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14 Geeky Languages to Learn With Your Love

Kelly Schwarze — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:15:00 PST

Love may be a universal language, but we're not sure that phrase includes the sci-fi alien races and fantastical creatures that rule the far depths of the galaxy, who express love in words beyond our human comprehension. When you're thinking of a unique way to woo your valentine this year, plan a tutorial to learn together one of these 14 geeky languages. While several of these Trekkie, Tolkien, or computer gaming-inspired languages have enough depth to warrant a university level class, many are not fully realized, so have fun discovering select words and phrases to bring to future geeky date outings.

Wookie - Made up of three dialects, the main Wookie language is Shyriiwook. As you'd expect it consists of lots of barks and grunts, but don't you dare say that to Chewbacca. The Star Wars Christmas Special has detailed examples of this mystifying tongue.
Klingon - The language of Klingons, the sometimes ally of the Federation, is arguably the best known of the imagined star languages. Described by its Hollywood creators as gutteral in tone, dedicated Trekkies maintain the Klingon Language Institue, preserving the galaxy's "fastest growing language."
Vulcan - Known as the language of Spock, one version of Vulcan looks like musical notes. Much of the language is available online today as Gene Roddenberry was insistent when making Star Trek: The Motion Picture that the Vulcans receive their own linguistic treatment.
Romulan - As biological cousins of the Vulcans, the Romulan language is difficult to differentiate from Vulcan to the untrained ear. The Central Institute of the Romulan Language ensures you get the right training to one day know the difference.
Cardassian - Residents of the Alpha Quadrant, Cardassians are a fearsome foe of the Federation. Little is known of their language, maybe because of its rectangular-shaped letters and script.
Andorian - The blue-skinned moon species from Andora appeared throughout the Star Trek series and would of course show up in the directory of a PADD.
Elvish - With a background in linguistics study from Oxford, Tolkien did not take the creation of the Lord of the Rings languages lightly. Based on Welsh and English, you can study Liv Tyler's Arwen in the film trilogy for pronunciation and read the many online Elvish resources, including an English to Elvish dictionary.
Dwarvish - Also called Khuzdul, Tolkien is said to have drawn inspiration for the secret language of the Dwarves from Hebrew, reflecting many of the same sounds and structure. As many Lord of the Rings languages, it's been almost fully realized and you can study up with the Dwarvish dictionary.

Check out even more languages to geek out over after the jump.

Fab Style Challenge: Red-Carpet Ready

FabSugar — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:40:22 PST

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . . no, not the holidays . . . award season! It's time to dust off those red-soled pumps and start brushing up on your red-carpet etiquette and practicing your poses (like we said, it's the best time of the year). Courtesy of eBay Fashion, this week's stylist challenge presents the chance to win a $500 eBay Fashion gift card! Here's what you have to do: just create a red-carpet-worthy look using at least one eBay item that can go from the Globes to the Oscars to the Grammys, seamlessly. Enter to win now - challenge ends Jan. 29.

1. Go to ShopStyle and sign up for a free account. If you already have a PopSugar account then there's no need to sign up.

2. Shop away! Hover over the piece you want and click "Favorite" so that it goes into your stylebook. Don't forget to include at least one eBay item in your look!

3. Ready to style? Go to your stylebook and click "Create a Look." Drag and drop the pieces you want. Make it look pretty!

4. Save it, then click "Share Look," then "Blog It."

5. Copy the code provided at the bottom of the page and paste it into a "New Post" while in raw HTML mode (not rich text) in the Fab Stylist of the Week group. Include the name of the challenge in your post's title so we can see it.

See Official Rules.

Create Your Own Interactive Books With Apple's New iBooks Author App

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:28:01 PST

Want to write and build your own interactive book? Apple just made it a lot easier with the iBooks Author app for your Mac. iBooks Author feels like a mashup of Pages and Keynote, allowing you to choose templates, interactive elements, and drop-down controls for configuring the details and layout of each interactive page. Made with educators in mind, iBooks Author makes it super easy for teachers to create interactive elements for study materials, including galleries, videos, review notes, diagrams, 3D models, and HTML. Interactive elements are added to the page by dragging and dropping images and even Word documents into various templates. Then, you can publish your interactive books to the iBookstore for students or readers to download straight to their iPads.

Of course, while this app was built for education, I can see how iBooks Author can take novels and biographies to the next level as well. We'll get some hands-on time and bring you our first impressions soon!

The iBooks Author app will be available for download today for free from the Mac App store.

Fresh Start Resolution: Learn New Software Skills

Emily Co — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:00:57 PST

It's a new year and a new you! Fresh Start is a short series detailing 12 helpful tips to start off the year right, whether it be to advance your career or increase your financial cushion. We've already given you advice on kicking your daily deal habit, quitting caffeine, and making a call to lower your bills. Here's another way to start afresh in 2012.

Many people include software skills on their resume, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and HTML, but not all of them have a good grasp of those programs. It's good to learn how to use various software because this knowledge can boost your résumé or even help you advance in your job.

A good way to learn these programs is through the online software training site, Lynda.com. If you pay a subscription fee, you get access to over 70,000 instructional videos for programs like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and even Facebook. But if you're not keen on spending the money, you can even test out the service with a seven-day free trial. You might not even need a month's access because there's plenty you can learn in seven days. Remember to cancel before the trial ends or you'll be charged with a paid membership.

How to Publish Your Own Book in 2012

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:40:45 PST

If writing a book is always the resolution left behind once the calendar runs out, make 2012 the year to finally get your novel out of your brain and onto the page. The fear of being rejected by publisher after publisher can set you back, but more than ever, self-published novelists are turning to ebooks to make their mark on their own.

Ebooks are gaining some serious ground in sales, even being recognized by the New York Times Book Review. It just goes to show that if you've got an awesome manuscript, you don't have to wait for a publisher to pick it up - you can self publish on digital formats with limited to no investment. Find out how you can get your ebooks on Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and mobile devices all around the world with the outlets below. Happy writing!

Barnes & Noble PubIt! - Easily publish your own books through the Barnes & Noble ebook store with PubIt! Just upload your files, and PubIt! converts it to an easy to read format that can be bought and downloaded to your Nook or other B&N apps, like the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC. Royalty rates range from 40 percent (for any book priced under $2.98 or over $10) to 65 percent (for any book priced between $2.99 and $9.99).
Amazon Kindle Store - Get your book sold in Amazon's Kindle store and nab royalty rates of 35 to 70 percent of sale prices. The Kindle Direct Publishing program accepts Word, zipped HTML, PDF's, ePub, and plain text files, and makes your book available on the Kindle, as well as other Amazon apps for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, PC, BlackBerry, and Android devices.

But wait, there's more - see the rest of your options after the jump.

5 Apps to Look For on Spotify's New App Platform

Kelly Schwarze — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:15:04 PST

Music junkies, take note: today Spotify introduced an integrated HTML5 app platform to round out the online music experience. Since Spotify partnered with Facebook, their user base has grown to over 10 million listeners who subscribe to friends' playlists and cultivate our own streaming music library. Like an iTunes app, any third party can develop and submit an app for Spotify's approval to be included on the platform.

Spotify Apps are available to any user, and the beta version is set to roll out over the next several days. Your list of apps and link to the App Finder will be located on the left sidebar of Spotify. Check out the five apps we can't wait to add to our account, and tell us if you'll add apps to your Spotify experience.

Last.fm - Discover a playlist's worth new favorite tracks within Spotify via a service we already know well.
Songkick - We'll never miss our favorite band's local live performance with this app that keeps users abreast of an artist's tour dates and also makes buying tickets to said event a snap.
Pitchfork - When on the lookout for independent musicians, reference the reviews and editorials of Pitchfork to find great artists flying under the radar.

Follow the break for our two other must-try apps including what no karaoke party can do without.

OK Go Sends a Video Message With HTML5

GeekSugar — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:07:05 PDT

OK Go's habit of creating clever music videos helped make them Internet viral video darlings, and they're certainly not going to start resting on their laurels anytime soon. The band's new video for the song "All Is Not Lost," a collaboration with HTML5, Google Chrome, and the dance troupe Pilobolus, gives viewers a kaleidoscopic dance performance of the song in both the video and the browser if viewed in Chrome. We recommend the Chrome viewing, as you can also create a personalized message to be embedded within the video and watch how the browser adjusts itself in tune to the music.

Beyond the video's incredible choreography and technology, the band uses the theme of the song to send support to the people of Japan in the wake of this year's earthquake and tsunami. Viewing the video in Chrome is a must, but we do have the "old-fashioned" music video of human dance kaleidoscope after the break.

Will the Real Facebook Phone Please Stand Up: HTC and Facebook Working on New Device?

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:18:16 PST

Remember the "first" Facebook Phone, the HTC Status? It's going to get some company soon. According to a new report, Facebook and HTC are building a Facebook phone code-named Buffy that will deeply integrate Facebook into the core of its functionality. It will be an Android-based device, run HTML5, and integrate Facebook in ways that other phones haven't, bumping up the social network's status from supporting role to main star.

Facebook is already becoming more mobile with its ability to integrate your mobile contacts into the Facebook platform, Facebook Messenger, and video calling, so it will be interesting to see what this phone looks like from the inside out.

HTML Tutorials For Coding Noobs

Kelly Schwarze — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 07:16:01 PDT

It's never too early to get the littlest one in your life acquainted with the language of the Web. No, this isn't a lesson on writing within a prescribed amount of characters rather the basics of HTML coding.

With the colorful HTML code and symbols of the book HTML For Babies, geeks in training will be able to properly format blog entries on their most recent play date to the zoo without help from mom and dad! The $9 book is the first of a three-volume set a New York City web designer created for his own child. Look out for a CSS volume soon for the baby who breezes through the basics.

Daily Tech: Adobe Halts Mobile Flash

GeekSugar — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:56:28 PST

Adobe abandons mobile Flash development, will focus on HTML5 - Dvice
If everyday life had video-game-like onscreen display - Cracked
All about the real Quidditch World Cup competition - CNN Geek Out!
Oregon tried out voting via iPads during Tuesday's elections - Tecca
10 new photos from the set of Return of the Jedi emerge - GeekTyrant
You, yes YOU, can appear on Doctor Who: Best of the Christmas Specials - PopCandy