Scott Foe has always been one of my favorite people in the gaming business. Known for his work on the Sega Dreamcast, the Nokia N-Gage, and the award winning Pocket Kingdom, Foe has had some unique experiences in gaming. Plus, he’s just excellent company for libation-fueled conversations. Adding to Foe’s coolness is his latest game, Douche Defender. This free-to-play game is full of cheesy lines and familiar faces. Here’s what Foe said about his latest creation in the Douche Defender press release:

I’m always trying to bring something

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Google has updated its Google Search app for iOS to include Google Now. For those of you not familiar with the product, Google Now is an intelligent search assistant that uses natural language input and a card-based system to serve you information. Many tech experts feel that Google Now is a much more powerful and effective alternative to Apple’s Siri product. While there are certainly similarities, I believe that the products are different enough that a direct comparison is somewhat inaccurate. In practical terms, I’ve gotten way more mileage … more

Verizon Wireless has announced several changes to how upgrades work for its postpaid customers. In the past, customers were able to get upgrade pricing 20 months into an existing contract in exchange for extending the contract by two years. That deal is over. Instead, customers will have to wait for the entire length of the contract to expire before being eligible for upgrade prices. Here’s an excerpt from a post by Verizon’s executive director of corporate communications Brenda Raney:

In alignment with the terms of the contract, customers on a

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For smarks, the hottest thing in the WWE is Fandango’s theme song, “ChaChaLaLa.” There are several reasons why the song is over; it’s an intricate, interesting, and ironic issue (the three Is, get it?!?). I’m not going to get into it right now, but what I will get into is how to make your very own Fandango ringtone. The current version of iTunes makes it super-easy to create your very own “ChaChaLaLa” ringtone for your iPhone. Here’s the rundown.… more

My friend John posted a link to the CTA Digital iPotty. This is a potty training seat with a built in iPad stand. It’s funny and horrifying at the same time. I’m not sure why any potty-training toddler needs this. I’m also not sure why any parent would think this is a good idea. To be fair, I don’t have any kids, so what do I know…except that I wouldn’t want a toddler playing with my iPad while feces and urine are flowing.

Just to check myself, please let … more

My pal Scott Foe dropped me a line to tell me about ShufflePix for iPhone. It’s a simple iOS puzzle game that turns your pictures into jumble puzzles. The goal is to put the puzzles together as fast as possible. You can check out how your puzzle-solving abilities stack up on the leader boards. While playing with strangers and strangers’ pictures is fun, playing with friends is even better. You can challenge your friends and use your photos for a more social experience.

If you’re so inclined, please download … more

Last week, Polygon posted a fantastic article full of juicy quotes from Valve co-founder Gabe Newell. Here are a few choice lines:

I think Apple rolls the console guys really easily.

The biggest challenge is that Apple moves on the living room before the PC industry sort of gets its act together.

The quotes got a ton of play on the Internetz, but I didn’t spend too much time thinking or talking about them…because Newell’s stance didn’t seem debatable to me. I think he’s right and his (greatly respected) opinions are obvious. However, RPadholic N8R suggested…more

Continuing our discussion of nerd hopes and wishes for 2013, I was wondering what you wanted to see in the consumer electronics space. Are you hoping for advancements in PCs, mobile phones, tablets, or software? If so, what specifically are you having gadget dreams about?

As for me, I’m hoping to see Apple take some bold steps with iOS. Don’t get me wrong — it’s a simple and powerful operating system that is the gold standard and has certainly gotten better over the years, but many of the recent changes have been subtle. Meanwhile, the competition has been catching up and, in some cases…more

Are you looking to buy yourself a Christmas (the commercial holiday, not the religious one) present, but are short on cash? If so, then you’ll be happy to learn that there are four iOS games that are free for a limited time. The first chapter of Walking Dead: The Game is sure to scare you, as well as vex you with some tough decisions. Avengers Initiative is a fun brawler that stars Captain American and The Incredible Hulk. ARC Squadron is a space shooter that boasts some really impressive graphics. … more

Renowned comic-book author Warren Ellis wrote a blog post on how he used the Apple iPad to write a large portion of his upcoming novel Gun Machine. The post was a response to another one of my favorite comic-book scribes, Greg Rucka. Ellis used the iPad along with a “Logitech Zagg Keyboard Case for iPad,” PlainText, iA Writer, QuickOffice Pro HD, and the outstanding Dropbox cloud service.

There are a few takeaways here. First, I’m reminded of tech pundits that dismissed the iPad as … more