'Brave' Easter Eggs: Where Were They Hidden?

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Over the years, fans of Pixar have grown quite fond of the little "Easter eggs" that the studio hides in their films, which can make watching one of their films all the more exciting.
Some of these hidden surprises occur in maybe just one film, but others have grown to become traditional, legendary Pixar Easter eggs. These include some sort of reference to an upcoming film from the studio, and the famed Pizza Planet truck, which made its first appearance in 1995 with Toy Story and has appeared in every Pixar film since (excluding The Incredibles).
Pixar has not forgotten their little traditions in this year's Brave, although that's what you might think during your first time watching the film. After all, how are you supposed to put a pizza delivery truck into a story set in medieval Scotland? The Easter eggs in Brave are hidden very well, so Pixar has released official images and descriptions revealing to us where both the Pizza Planet truck and Sulley from next year's Monsters University appear in the movie.

ANCIENT DELIVERYThe Witch, an eccentric crone disguised as a woodcarver specializing in whittling wooden bear figurines and conjuring haphazard spells, showcases her mysterious and inexplicable knowledge of the future with a carved figurine of the infamous Pizza Planet truck, an iconic delivery vehicle that’s appeared in nearly every full-length feature film from Pixar Animation Studios since 1995’s Toy Story. Disney•Pixar’s Brave is in theaters now.


NO MONSTERS IN THE CLOSETA carving of Sulley, the lovable blue monster slated to return to the big screen in 2013’s Monsters University, appears on a piece of wood in the home of the Witch, an eccentric crone and woodcarver in Disney•Pixar’s epic action adventure Brave, in theaters now.
Still no word on where A113 shows up in the film, but we know it is there, as director Mark Andrews confirmed so a few months ago. If you found it, let us know in the comments!
Which of the Easter eggs did you catch when you saw Brave?

Pixar Corner Welcomes the Summer!

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The time of year for sunny days and beach trips has once again arrived, and to celebrate, Pixar Corner has a new header logo honoring the sunny season.
Once again, the artwork is provided by the incredibly talented artist Paul Robin, who has also designed all previous Pixar Corner logos. Be sure to check out Paul's blog, where you can suggest your own adventure for Paul Robin to go on!
In the new logo, the iconic Luxo ball enjoys the summer sunshine while sporting some sweet sunglasses.
Enjoy your summer, and we hope you like the new seasonal logo!

Where's my Perry?

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A couple of weeks back, Where's My Water? was the free app of the week at the Apple App Store, so I downloaded it onto our iPad, thinking it would be a nice way to pass the time.  Little did I realize what an obsession it would become! The concept is so simple -- just swipe your finger across the screen to move dirt around and create channels for water to flow into Swampy the alligator's bath tub -- but with constantly changing obstacles like acid, mold and walls, that's easier said than done.  Where's my Water is one of the most popular apps for iOs; Swampy has become so popular that Disney is actually creating a web series and merchandise for him! 



And now, Disney has created a new kind of Where's My Water app for fans of Perry the Platypus, aka Agent P, the semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal of action who stars in Disney's Phineas and Ferb.  I got the chance to review the new app -- Where's My Perry? -- recently, and it has become an even bigger hit in our household than Where's My Water?.  My kids are huge fans of the show, and they love Where's My Water? , so I was pretty sure they'd love Where's My Perry?  -- and I wasn't wrong.

Just like with the original app, players have to swipe the screen to move dirt around to create channels for water to flow -- but now everything is themed to the Phineas & Ferb show.  This time, the water acts as an escape route for Agent P to get back to headquarters, so the goal is to direct the water to enter Perry's chamber, so he can float to safety.

Unlike the original app, there are a few additional challenges to thwart Perry's escape:

* Water now comes in 3 states (ice, steam and liquid) and mimics that state's physical properties
* Dr. Doofenshmirtz has left a bunch of lasers to change the water's state (melt ice, condense steam, freeze water, etc.., so that can be good or bad depending on where you want to guide Perry), and vacuums that turn water into confetti (that's bad).  
* Bombs are scattered  throughout the area; when water touches the bombs they explode (bad because you lose water, but can be good if you have to blast through rock).
* Gnomes are scattered throughout the area;  collecting them increases your score and gives you access to higher levels.

There are also bonus levels featuring Balloony, Dr. Doofenshmirtz's childhood friend, but none of my kids have reached those levels yet.  I guess they'll be playing Where's My Perry? until they do.


Disclosure: I received a free download of the app to review.  The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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Ways to save on international airfare

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I love the fact that we are a global family: I'm from the Philippines, Alfie is from the UK, we both migrated to the US (with Alfie stopping over Australia first!) to live and raise our family.  Our kids are American, with relatives from all over the world. As a result, all the kids love visiting new countries and learning about their unique cultures.  International travel is truly one of the most enjoyable and eye-opening activities any family can do, and I highly recommend it!

The downside of all this is our travel budget; Alfie and I try to alternate visiting our folks every year.  One year we'll fly to the UK to spend the summer, and the next year we'll spend the holidays in the Philippines.  With 3 kids all and that distance to go, our holiday and leisure budget is completely consumed by international airfare!  I'm always on the lookout for ways to save on our plane tickets, so this article sent to me by Vayama, an online travel agency focused on international travel, really caught my attention.  They list seven ways families can save on international airfare:

1) Travel Midweek
International travel deals are entirely based on availability and since most people travel over the weekend (Friday & Saturday); you will find the cheapest international airfare deals if you travel midweek, usually departing and returning on a Tuesday or Wednesday.


2) Spend Saturday Night
Business travelers fly home on the weekend, so most discounted international airfare deals require a Saturday night stay. So be prepared to spend Saturday at your destination.


3) Don’t book too Early or Too Late
When it comes to cheap international airfares, you have to follow the Goldilocks rule: Don’t book too early or too late. We all know that an international ticket booked with less than 3 days notice will be very expensive, but it will also be pricy if you book too far in advance. Most airlines start competing for passengers around three to four months before departure; this is known as the “Goldilocks Zone”. Search for your international airfare about three to five months out and you will be in the best position to hit the international airfare deal jackpot.


4) Fly Through the Side Door
If your desired destination is sold out or too expensive, try flying out of a secondary international airport (Boston vs JFK or San Francisco vs Los Angeles). The same works with your destination airports; If London is sold out or too expensive, try Brussels, Amsterdam or even Stuttgart. You can use the savings to book a low cost inter Europe flight to London or you can jump on the Eurostar train from Paris or Brussels.


5) Fly Seasonally
Most budget travelers never fly during high season. They take advantage of the lower airfares and decent weather during the ‘shoulder season’. Europe’s fall shoulder season starts around September 15th and extends until the middle of November. It’s spring shoulder season starts in mid February and extends until the end of April. For the cheapest deals to New Zealand and Australia, fly in mid August, their fall and winters are quite mild and still allow you to enjoy the many outdoor adventures available Down Under. For Asia, fly from late September through November to get the lowest airfare deals. South America’s low season is anytime it’s not Christmas, New Year’s, Carnival or a school holiday.


6) Use the Multiple Flights Function
Vayama has a ‘multiple flights’ function on it’s ‘find a flight’ box. It’s a good idea to use it because it may be cheaper to fly into one city and return from another (for example; New York to London, returning from Amsterdam). Play around with different combinations and save.


7) Add a Stopover and Save
Direct flights (those with one stop) are also cheaper than nonstop flights, particularly when you fly long haul. For example the fares for a New York to Johannesburg flight will be cheaper on airlines that add a stopover (usually in Europe, Africa or the Middle East) versus the nonstop option from New York. The same applies to long haul flights to Asia. One stop in Seoul or Taipei could shave hundreds of dollars off an India trip when compared to nonstop flights.

I can personally vouch for tip #1, 2, 3 and 5.  Flying off-season is probably your biggest way to save -- it can mean a 40% reduction in price versus peak season fares!  Bottom line: it never hurts to be flexible with dates and total travel time.

Thanks to Vayama for the tips -- and have a happy international trip!


Disclosure: I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. Information is provided by the featured company/product and is indicated in italics. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.




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Alljoyn -- connecting devices, connecting people

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Remember those days when the PalmPilot was every geek's wet dream?  We all though it was soooo cool how we could point our Palm Pilots at each other and "beam" our contact information across!  The PalmPilot had its day in the sun, but these days, even children's games are more high-tech than that!  Companies like Qualcomm have taken inter-device connectivity to unheard-of heights, and the best is yet to come.


To illustrate: a few weeks ago, Qualcomm introduced me to a couple of high-tech mobile apps using a new technology called Alljoyn.   The first app, Spudball, is a game that lets you toss a virtual hot potato from your phone or tablet, onto your friends' device, back and forth, until the potato explodes.  It's amazing -- you swipe your finger on your screen to make the potato disappear, only to see it appear on your friend's phone!   The second game, QwikDraw, lets two players work on a drawing together, passing the drawing back and forth over their phones or other devices.  Both games are super fun (and I plan to feature each of them in a separate review), and they're a great way to get my kids playing a game together instead of withdrawing into their own little worlds whenever they pick up a device. 


Cool as these games are, what's really cool is the technology behind them: AllJoyn, an application development framework that enables peer-to-peer connectivity across multiple devices and operating systems.

In plain English, AllJoyn is a tool that developers can use to write apps that allow devices -- smartphones, tablets, PC's, wifi-enabled set top boxes, smart tv's -- to talk to each other over WiFi, Bluetooth, WiFi direct, or a mobile hotspot.  Imagine the seamless connectivity that Apple devices enjoy with each other, but not limited to Apple devices, and you've got a sense of what AllJoyn can do. 

A few key features of Alljoyn:
* It's open source
* It's non-OS specific; it's supported on Android, v2.2.x (Eclair), Windows, and up.
* Easy to use: developers can create an app with AllJoyn in as little as 1 week.
* The AllJoyn SDK (software development kit) is free for developers to download and use.

The best thing about AllJoyn?  All the connectivity work is done, so app and game developers don't need to learn the complexities of device discovery, pairing, message routing, etc...  They can use the AllJoyn API for all that stuff, and focus entirely on creating a kickass app or game.

AllJoyn isn't just for kid's games:  the Bizzabo event networking app uses AllJoyn to let conference goers see which attendees are close by, and set up face-to-face meetings (this would be awesome for BlogHer!).  And there's even a grown-up version of QuikDraw, Chalkboard, which lets co-workers use their own devices to collaborate and brainstorm together.

Since AllJoyn is all about enabling different devices to connect and interact with each other, you can imagine the possibilities.  Here are two examples of app prototypes that use Alljoyn:

* Use smartphones as a remote control for games on a laptop -- imagine hooking your laptop onto your HD flatscreen and playing the game with your friends at a party! 

* Play music on a smartphone using playlists and music from other smartphones -- perfect for road trips where everyone wants a turn playing their favorite songs!  (Qualcomm engineer Brian Spencer actually created this app, JamJoyn, in his spare time, in just 10 days). 

Cool, huh?  Once you get the idea, the sky's the limit!  Imagine being able to control your smart refrigerator with your smartphone, or take a photo of friends at a party and immediately have the photo added to a slideshow that's playing on your living room tv.  I'll bet homeschooling parents would love an app that lets them load up a lesson plan on their tv screens, then enable their kids' devices to solve math problems, with the solution showing up on the tv screen for everyone to see.  Personally, I think someone ought to develop a Where's My Stuff? app, which uses Alljoyn technology to help me locate my car keys, no matter where I leave them in the house.

I can't wait to see what kinds of AllJoyn apps developers come up with next!




Learn more about AllJoyn on their website and their YouTube channel.



Disclosure: Qualcomm sent me a T-Mobile Springboard and a Galaxy SII, both of which run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon chip, in order to try out Alljoyn apps like SpudBall, QuikDraw and 3D Rollercoaster Rush.   The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
 
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Bonggamom's Friday Finds -- list your giveaways here

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Welcome to Bonggamom's Friday Finds! I'm glad so many of you are finding this to be a useful way to get more traffic to your giveaways. And as a person who loves entering giveaways, I have to admit it's a great, easy way to find out where all the best giveaways are.

So feel free to leave links to your giveaways, everyone. And don't forget to get cracking and enter everyone else's, too!

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American Girl's Secret Wardrobe app for iOS

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Here's a girly twist on Tetris -- American Girl's Secret Wardrobe app has players scrambling to catch falling clothes and accessories and dragging them to their matching boxes.  In this app, American Girl historical characters Marie-Grace and Cecile need help getting dressed for the masquerade ball.  As the game begins, all the pieces the girls need for their costumes are lined up in boxes on either side of the screen, and a variety of pieces begin falling from the top of the screen.  Players have to drag the correct pieces into the correct boxes.



Unlike Tetris, no points are deducted if a costume piece falls onto the floor, but if you drag a costume piece into the wrong box, you'll get a big red X.  After 3 mistakes, the game is over.  After you've dragged all the costume pieces necessary to complete Marie-Grace and Cecile's costumes, you move on to the next level.  All your mistakes are erased, and you start fresh, so it's easy to rack up points.  It's lighthearted fun, good for a couple of minutes of girly play.


Disclosure: I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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