Tag: WORLDCUP2010

If there was any doubt about Japan's love of social networking, it's been soundly dashed by the number of tweets the country sent as the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve. The world sent 6,939 tweets per second (TPS) four seconds after Japan's time zone entered into 2011, with the island nation sending the vast majority of "Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu" ("Happy New Year!") tweets. The ...

We aren't 'football' experts, but even we notice that the flight path of the Adidas Jabulani ball, the official ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is unpredictable to say the least. Nearly every kick seems to send the ball knuckling, slicing or hooking past the goal. Apparently, there's a scientific reason for its awkward trajectory. According to The Mirror, aerodynamics experts at NASA claim that ...

digg_url ='http://www.switched.com/2010/07/07/nikes-world-cup-pinball-game-goes-digital-with-led-screen/'; Whenever we see a pinball machine in a bowling alley or movie theater lobby, we quickly drop in some quarters and play a round or two for nostalgia's sake. We say nostalgia, because, sadly, these classic machines aren't as prevalent as they once were. Nike, surprisingly enough, could give ...

After steadfastly adhering to a no-tech policy, FIFA's flighty leader Sepp Blatter has acquiesced that -- in the midst of an escalating international furor -- soccer needs to once again "reopen the file on technology." His "technology file" grows increasingly full, though, because FIFA has repeatedly investigated the use of goal-line cameras, video replays and sensor-equipped balls. With each ...

In 2004, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) awarded South Africa the privilege of hosting Africa's first World Cup. Based on concerns -- both legitimate and ethnocentric -- over crime, violence and inadequate facilities, some observers immediately proclaimed the tournament doomed. But the World Cup, which is now in its 80th year, is currently enjoying enormous success and ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Despite the media's focus on ordering issues, "Antenna Attenuation" and questionable customer service, consumers purchased iPhone 4s at record pace over the weekend. Apple moved 1.7 million iPhones before Sunday, making the gadget's opening weekend the most successful ever for a cell phone. Basking in new gadget success, Apple has ...

Share In celebration of... well, we're not sure what exactly (perhaps to raise awareness of migraine sufferers), Google has added a vuvuzela button to YouTube. Just click the soccer ball icon to overlay a loop of the blaring World Cup staples over almost any video on the site. It's great for transforming seemingly harmless clips (of bunnies staring, for instance) into terrifying, Stanley ...

If you missed Landon Donovan's game-winning goal in the waning minutes of the USA's World Cup match against Algeria, you missed a milestone moment in American soccer and the Internet. According to Mashable, Internet traffic on 100 major news sites, as tracked by Akamai's Net Usage Index, spiked to a whopping 11.2 million visitors-per-minute after Donovan nailed the net. While that's not quite as ...

Earlier this week, Brazil's national soccer team beat North Korea at the World Cup. The result wasn't shocking, but the fact that North Korea actually has a soccer team certainly took us by surprise. The team may be the lowest ranked squad in the tournament, and the country may be making its first World Cup appearance in 44 years, but the underdog of this year's Cup apparently has a secret, ...

Vuvuzelas, those long plastic horns, are inescapable at this year's World Cup. The stadium horns, as they're sometimes known, are as integral a part of the soccer experience in South Africa as fight songs are in the U.K. Outside of South Africa, though, the horns are regarded largely as an annoyance. The sound generated by the constant blaring of the "instruments" has been compared to the sound ...

There's a load of great tech news happening out there every day, and, unfortunately, we just can't cover it all. Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. Google added user photos to Street View (much like Microsoft's Photosynth technology). You'll be able to bring up real photographs as you 'stroll' through Street View ...

While most of us have been spending our evenings watching Glen "Big Baby" Davis slobber all over the NBA Finals, the rest of mankind, for whatever reason, is caught up in something called the 'World Cup.' From what we've heard, it's some sort of grandiose international event where people from historically war-torn nations find new excuses to burn the cars of their former colonizers, drunk ...

The global fascination with sports thrusts professional competitors into an inescapable communal spotlight, a lesson learned long ago by the first tweeting athletes. Players and owners from both the NBA and NFL continue to draw the ire of league officials for sexual, bigoted and inopportune Twitter updates. While patronizing and condescending European "football" clubs may dismiss U.S. soccer, the ...

There's a load of great tech news happening out there every day, and, unfortunately, we just can't cover it all. Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. Designer Khoi Vinh picks apart Apple's claims about "perfect" typography on the new iPhone 4's 'Retina Display.' [From: Subtraction.com] The 2010 World Cup kicks off ...

The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa is nearly upon us, and, to get in the soccer spirit, Google has introduced a soccer Easter egg on its search results page. According to Geekosystem, when you enter "world cup" into Google's search bar, the page index at the bottom of the screen reads "Gooooooooooal!" instead of the company's name. This trick also works when you enter other phrases like ...