Oh, England! It’s the land of the British Monarchy, copious amounts of tea, a reputation for poor dental upkeep and, of course, the London 2012 Olympics.
We’ve had our eye on cool Olympic themed apps, games and other hilarious haberdashery that would make any good tech geek chuckle from behind their computer screen. Check it out, try it out and let us know what you think!
Table of Contents
#1. Make a Meme+
During the opening ceremonies, photographers caught Queen Elizabeth looking less than thrilled at the spectacle before her. The Internet community was quick to pull together some hilarious meme’s in her majesty’s honor. This was probably my favorite.
Make a Meme+ is a free app by Slayter Development that easily allows you to make your own. Choose from a list of well-known meme characters and add your own text. It was quick, fun and easy to share on Twitter or via email. But wait, no Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr or Flickr integration? This does not amuse us. Also, the memes on this app are limited and to access additional ones, guess what? Yep, you have to pay.
#2. Office Jerk Summer Games Edition
Every Olympics seems to produce a villain we all love to hate. It’s that judge who gave a ridiculously low score or a referee that made an unfair call. If you were watching the Canada vs. U.S. Women’s Soccer Semi-Final on August 6th, you may share these sentiments with the rest of the Canadian population. Until now, there’s really been no way to take action on your anger without getting arrested.
Office Jerk Summer Games Edition by Fluik is a free way to get your revenge legally. Your nemesis, the terrible judge, has been giving low scores and watching his text message conversations more closely than the athletes all day. Your mission? Throw things at him in hopes of knocking some sense into this knucklehead. It starts off with a messy hot dog, moves on to a less than exciting ball of paper but if you get far enough, I hear underwear, dumbbells and tennis rackets are promised. Using a simple swipe motion to launch items, gamers need to watch out for the wind from a fan that can affect its trajectory. Heads up Mr. Judge!
#3. Cowbell2010
Guess what? I got a fever… and the only prescription is more cowbell!
If you’ve been tuning in to Olympic cycling, the cowbell’s distinctive clamor will be a familiar one. Apparently, it’s a world-known tradition for fans, family and teammates to ring cowbells to let athletes know they are being supported by the crowds.
Cowbell2010 is a free app by Rage Digital Inc. that was originally created for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. The developers updated it in advance of the London Summer Games. What I love is that you can decorate your cowbell with the flag of the country you are supporting, and then get ready for an arm work out. Secret: If you get tired, you can just tap the screen for the same effect.
#4. Finger Olympic
Get ready for the gold medal presentation for Olympic apps. According to Yahoo! News, Fingerway’s Finger Olympic is the best of the best. This free app has adorable graphics and is surprisingly challenging, especially when you advance to play against the better athletes like “Pinky” and “Toe”. But don’t worry, they start you out easy with poor, overweight “Thumby”.
On your mark, get set, go! The crowd of cartooned finger people cheer you on while you run past advertisements telling you to “Drink Fingercola”. You tap your fingers on the screen as fast as you can to make your finger athlete go, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Wait till you get to the hurdles. As you unlock higher levels, you’re invited to participate in Long Jump, Javelin Throw and the 400 Meters. Talk about breaking a finger sweat.
#5. Keep Calm and Carry On
To me, you can’t talk about England without covering the iconic “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster. Created by the British Ministry of Information in 1939, its purpose was to send a message to British citizens in time of war to steel their resolve and boost their morale. However, it was never actually used. I think we’ve all seen the different variations that have popped up since it was rediscovered in 2000 at that second-hand book shop in Alnwick, Northumberland. Most notably “Keep Calm and Call Batman”, “Keep Calm and Chive On” and “Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes”.
Now you can make your own! Keep Calm and Carry On by Back Bay Bytes is only $0.99 and lets you change all the text, colors and even change the icon at the top. I actually personalized a t-shirt I made by using this app. You can check it out on the latest episode of Macgasm TV, “Getting In Shape With Your iPhone,” here. Oh, and I made this one for Brennan.
