A few weeks ago Shiny Shiny and our sister site Tech Digest went along to the Liverpool Street Station and played around with the world's largest NES game controller. We were competing to beat a world Tetris record and really really tried our bestest. But, as it was our first time using the huge NES we didn't think there'd be much chance of us actually breaking a Guinness World Record...

But look, look! Myself (Becca) and Tech Digest editor Gerald Lynch now hold the record for the "Highest score on Tetris (Nintendo, 1986) for a team of two."! Well, if you needed any more proof that we're just a pair of geeks, there it is...

"The highest score achieved by a team of two sharing one controller on Tetris (Nintendo, 1986) is 23,552, achieved by Becca Caddy and Gerald Lynch (both UK) at the launch of Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2012 at Liverpool Street Station, London, UK, on 18 January 2011," confirmed the record tracking team today.

But just remember, as if testing our dexterous digits wasn't enough, the Shiny team broke the record using the world's biggest NES controller, which measured a whopping 12ft x 5ft 3 in x 1ft 8 in.

Out now, the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2012 is available from all good bookstores. And some rubbish ones too!

When was the last time you felt excited about sitting down and writing up that document, creating that powerpoint or editing that photo? We can do amazing things with our shiny new computers and laptops nowadays, but it's all got a bit routine and dull, dull, dull.

Well, back in September we got our sticky fingers on a Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch tablet, which in many ways changed our experience of day-to-day working, adding in ways to annotate documents, navigate around our desktops with ease, draw, write and even doodle when no one's looking (shh). Not only does the Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch tablet have multi-touch functionality, so you can use gestures as well as the precise pen, but it also has wireless capability to make it even more versatile.

So, we're really excited to announce that we've teamed up with Wacom to give two of our lucky readers the chance to win a Bamboo Fun Pen & Touch tablet worth £89.99, which also comes with Photoshop Elements 8, ArtRage 3, the Bamboo Dock and wireless kits.

Bamboo is all about "you are what you do", so to enter, simply tell us what your new year's resolution is and a Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen & touch could be yours!

To enter, drop us an email with your most inventive ideas at shinymediacomps@gmail.com, or write us a message on our Facebook page, and be sure to leave relevant contact details (email address, phone number, etc, etc) so that we can get in touch should you be one of the two lucky winners.

You've got until 5pm on Friday 16th of December 2011 to get your emails, messages and resolutions over to us, so get thinking!

Make sure you've read our Shiny Media Terms & Conditions before you enter too.

We received so many brilliant entries to our #ShinyAutumn mobile photography competition over the last few weeks that we decided to create a digital photo magazine, showcasing 30 of our favourite images.

You can download the digital magazine, Shiny Shiny's Autumn Collection, from Magcloud for free now as a pdf or a fancy iPad version, as it looks amazing on an iPad, but doesn't everything nowadays?!

If you're interested in having an old school print version of the magazine you can buy one directly from Magcloud for a small price too, just follow the "Print" link at the side.

We're also going to be adding the magazine to Scribd in the next few days, so you can browse it without having to download anything too.

Yesterday we announced our winning image, a beautiful and atmospheric photo of Battersea Park from @BoothTim, along with our nine other favourites, which all feature in the digital magazine along with 20 more of the best entries.

The winner will be receiving a T12v3 speaker bar from our friends at Orbitsound and we'll be picking runners up to get a lucky dip iPhone accessory in the next few days too, including some great new cases from Griffin.

Here's a video our sister company Sutro Digital has pulled together showcasing ten of the best photos too:

Over the past few weeks we've been getting lots of amazing entries to our #ShinyAutumn photo competition, from images of pumpkins and cats to leaves and lakes.

However, there's only one winner (who gets a fabulous T12v3 speaker bar from Orbitsound), so here's our top ten list including this beautiful image from our winner @BoothTim.

The judges had a few words to say about the winning entry:

"It was almost like we could feel the crisp breeze flowing over Battersea Park in this beautiful and well composed image. The shadow effects and the bright Autumnal colours also added to what we feel is a particularly striking photograph and sums up this time of year perfectly."

Psst... We're also collecting together 30 of our favourite photo entries for a cool little project, so keep your eyes peeled even if you're not featured in the top ten list.

Simply go to the Loccit and Shiny giveaway website, make a note of the voucher code and click "Get FREE Card". You'll then be taken to the Loccit store where you can pick cards for any occasion - including Christmas - and personalise them with photos directly from your computer or those you already have on Facebook.

Loccit also specialises in allowing you to bring photos from your social networks into the offline world. So you can visit the Loccit store to add Facebook photos to all kinds of things, like cards, photobooks and posters.

*You will have to pay 79p for postage and packing.

You can get your FREE card here.

As you may have previously read we've been hard at work during the sunny spell a few weeks ago putting together our first iPad magazine, Technode.

Technode is a free, quarterly digital technology magazine from the Shiny Shiny and Tech Digest editorial team and is available from the iTunes Store or as a web edition and PDF version for other operating systems via Magcloud.com. To not leave anyone feeling left out, we've even made it so that you can buy a print edition to keep!

The first issue looks at:
- The summer's top 20 gadgets
- How 4G mobile means we may get free broadband
- The impact of coding in digital art
- Why Facebook has turned us all into liars
- And much more

Check out the video above for a guided tour of what's on offer.

We hope you like it! Any feedback can be left at Technode's Facebook page.

Introducing Technode; the new, free quarterly digital technology magazine from the editorial team behind Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny!

Available on all iOS devices as an app, as a web edition and PDF version for other operating systems via Magcloud.com and also as a traditional print edition too, each issue will focus on a key tech trend, with this first issue giving an overview of gadgetry in 2011 as a whole.

You can also read Technode online via Scribd

Check out the video above for a closer look at what's on offer.

How To Get Technode

Technode is available as a free iPad and iPhone app, as an online edition, and available for other tablet and smartphone OS's via Magcloud. Alternatively, you can order a print copy by clicking here, though this service comes at a small charge. We also plan to have a Kindle edition for future issues too.

We hope you like it! Any feedback can be left at Technode's Facebook page.

Fancy a bit of bank holiday reading? Check out our new free gadgets and tech magazine Technode.

You can read about...

* The summer's 20 top gadgets.
* How 4G Mobile will mean we may get free broadband
* Why Augmented Reality is still the future
* The impact of coding on digital art
* Why Facebook has turned us all into liars

and lots more

You can get it in a number of ways

If you have an iPad download the free app here

If you want to read the magazine online go here

If you have an iPhone/touch you can download the mag from Magcloud here. Note that reading the mag on the iPhone is easier if you read it in iBooks or another reader.

If you want to read the mag on your PC, other tablets or smartphones then grab Technode from Magcloud here

If you want a print version you can have one from here, but there is a charge.

There will be a version for the Kindle soon too

Anyhow hope you like it. Any feedback contact us via Technode's Facebook page

Hi all. Just wanted to share with you our exciting big news. Always keen to do something a little different, we have launched our very first magazine.

It is called Technode, is 40 pages long and is completely free. You can read about...

* The summer's 20 top gadgets.
* How 4G Mobile will mean we may get free broadband
* Why Augmented Reality is still the future
* The impact of coding on digital art
* Why Facebook has turned us all into liars

and lots more

You can get it in a number of ways

If you have an iPad download the free app here

If you have an iPhone/touch you can download the mag from Magcloud here. Note that reading the mag on the iPhone is easier if you read it in iBooks or another reader.

If you want to read the mag on your PC, other tablets or smartphones then grab Technode from Magcloud here

If you want a print version you can have one from here, but there is a charge.

There will be a version for the Kindle soon too

Anyhow hope you like it. Any feedback contact us via Technode's Facebook page

Here at Shiny Shiny we are big fans of the LG Optimus 7 phone, its unique features and innovative Windows® Phone 7 operating system. So we are really excited to be able to four of the phones as competition prizes to Shiny Shiny readers.

We have made entering the competition very simple. All you need do is go here add your name and email and take a quick survey. Your name will then be automatically included in the draw for the phones which will take place in four weeks time.

So what's so good about the LG Optimius 7?

In addition to its Windows® Phone 7 technology it has a fabulous 5.0 Megapixel camera with some very cool image related features such as intelligent shot and panorama mode, High definition video shooting, voice to text and compatibility with all your favourite social networking sites. The phone also has the wonderful augmented reality camera (Scan Search) which is the easiest way to search your surroundings. In fact the Optimus 7 is the only device supporting AR functionality that uses the Windows Phone 7 platform"

The phone also boasts Play To, LG's own multimedia file sharing technology based on DLNA that lets users enjoy content on the phone across all today's digital platforms for a seamless entertainment experience, all at the flick of a finger.

So your chance to win one of six LG Optimus WP7 devices simply go here.

For full details and T&Cs visit here.

Sponsored post on behalf of LG

UK citizens are very used to surveillance cameras - CCTV are commonplace on city streets - but software that lets cameras automatically recognise your face is new. Venture capitalist Mark Cuban blogs that he has just put money into a company that does just that.

These cameras wouldn't just film you, they'd recognise you coming in, match your face to a picture of your face in their log, and then could publish your arrival in their shop (or wherever they are). These would be check-ins, like Foursquare, but automatic and involuntary.

Currently the technology is used for more mundane uses like predicting traffic flow on streets, but Cuban predicts that the next step will be this facial recognition. He hasn't revealed the name of the company on his blog, but that hasn't stopped the commenters guessing.

But hey, you're thinking, Debenhams (say) don't know what my face looks like, they don't know me from the proverbial Adam. Wrong. If you've got a Facebook profile, chances are they could find out what your face looks like pretty easily.

As Mark Cuban puts it:

"Facebook provides a database of 500mm people and their names from around world. While not all profile pictures are going to be valid in facial recognition software, most will. Few people exclude their basic name and picture information from public search, so FB could be the first to provide a database of names and faces to the commercial world of facial recognition."

But seeing as the facial recognition software on my laptop fails to recognise me 70% of the time, and is completely thrown by my glasses, I'm not too worried by this. Though I am willing to countenance the idea that their facial recognition software is better than my facial recognition software.

Given that people have qualms about checking in on Foursquare because it means people knowing where they are, there are going to be some serious "issues" about privacy with this one. But perhaps other people will like it. You won't need to get your phone out and wait for the app to load up before checking yourself in.

If the practice of "checking-in" is effortless, it could go a lot more mainstream, with more people doing it, more stores getting interested in it and offering better stuff to their loyal customers.

We're really interested in the implications here.. any thoughts?

[via ReadWriteWeb]

If you have been reading Shiny Shiny for a long while you will probably have fond memories of previous editors Katie Lee and Susie Weaser and their pun-filled, pirate obsessed, tasered up posts.

Well the pair have teamed up once again on a new site for Miramus Publishing called Dorkadore. It has plenty of gadget reviews, but also includes a whole load of other things including fashion, TV and home furnishing type stuff.

We especially like the healthy kitchen gadgets, vibrating make up and this season's hottest gadget, the ereader.

Hello again. Thanks for waiting - Shiny Shiny will be updating once more as of today. We missed you. As we hurtle into mid-August 09, we'll be there with all the little tech oddments, gadget-news and net culture which we treasure so. And thank you concerned readers, yes, that will definitely include Hello Kitty and vibrators.

I'd also like to welcome new writer Andrea Petrou. Hi Andrea! You'll be hearing more from this lady soon.

Shiny Shiny tweets and would like you to follow please.

Some people call Twitter a stream of banalities - of course it is, and that's why we love it. And when you follow us it's a stream of ShinyShiny-flavoured banalities.
So... follow us!

Practically an RSS feed, we use our Twitter-stream to post links to all articles, and occasionally little jokes (if I can ever think of any). Including replies, questions, links to good memes and bad videos, and quotations from the Wikipedia entry for 'geek' - our twitter is jammed with useful links and trivial comments. The kind Twitter is known and loved for. We also point out nice offers, when kindly PRs suggest them to us.

Plus Shiny Shiny is always interested to hear your feedback and Twitter is a great place to reply to us or suggest something.

If you're not on Twitter - let us warmly recommend it. Don't believe anything you read in the press about it being boring. It's not. It's sweet bite-sized addictive fun.

Believe it or not the @shinyshiny avatar is a green superwoman with an extra sparkle and a logo that I added in during a fit of 'creativity'. It just seemed right at the time.

Oh HAI everyone! I'm Anna, the new editor of Shiny Shiny, tentatively taking the place of the lovely Zara and stepping into a long line of distinguished, witty and knowledgeable Shiny Shiny editors and contributors.

Since I'm also stepping into the radar zone of Shiny Shiny's distinguished, witty and knowledgeable readers, I thought I'd introduce myself and say that I'd really like to hear about the things that you want to see on the site.

Follow on after the jump..

After over two years of life in Shiny Towers Shiny Shiny Ed Zara will soon be leaving for pastures new. She'll be making her formal goodbyes nearer the time, however Shiny Shiny is moving on and entering a new phase in its life. So we need an editor and writers to take it into a new era.

We need tech writers who can deliver intelligent, creative copy about gadgets, the web and all the other esoteric stuff Shiny covers. They also need to be able to review gadgets and talk about them in an engaging way in front of a camera. The writers can be female or male, what matters most is the brilliant copy and video they produce.

If you are interested send chris at shinymedia dot com an email with a sample Shiny Shiny post.

Last week, we told you that your dreams of attending the Gadget Show Live 2009 were shattered, as all the tickets have been snapped up by gadget enthusiasts. We also told you Dan had a few in his top drawer to give away in exchange for the correct answer to a question. Well boys and girls, that time has come. He's got 10 pairs of tickets to give away for this tech extravaganza taking place at the Birmingham NEC the weekend after next (that's 17th-19th April for those without their calendars to hand). There'll be all sorts of interactive treats on display including a gaming zone, Segway test track, Super Theatre featuring the starts of the Gadget Show themselves stars and the amazing How To Theatre with us, the Shiny Tech Crew.

"So, how do I bag myself these tickets hotter than the sun on a particularly hot day," you're asking yourself. Well, the answer is simple. All you have to do is answer the very simple question after the jump...

Remember that nail bitingly exciting news we brought you at the beginning of the year, detailing our official partnership with those nerdlingers over at The Gadget Show Live, to be held on April 17th-19th, at the Birmingham NEC Arena? Well, if you were thinking 'I'd love to meet the Shiny Shiny and Tech Digest tech team' and were hoping to bag yourself some entrance permitting tickets, you're going to kick yourself - we've just been informed they've completely and utterly sold out. However, there is a glimmer of hope at the end of this long dark tunnel and its competition shaped.

Yes, that's right Dan over at Tech Digest has a whole bunch burning a hole in his drawer and seeing as he prefers his drawers to come without inconvenient craters he's going to be giving them away very soon. So watch this space.

To those who foresaw a ticket purchasing catastrophe (and who are no doubt smiling smugly to themselves right now), we'll see you down at the NEC at the How To Theatre on the dates detailed above.

Gadget Show Live 2009

It probably hasn't gone unnoticed that an essential part of the site - the part where you get to write wonderful things about us and out website - is currently missing. The hamsters have become a little burned out of late (it must be the upsurge in Twitter users), so while they're taking a well deserved break from running in their internet powered wheels, this subsequently means you won't be able to share with us for a while. But this shouldn't be for too long, so as soon as that vital cog is back up and running, you guys will be the first to know.

So, stay with us, bear with us and we promise it will all be OK soon. If your comments are urgent, get in contact with us via Twitter.

I can't really believe I'm typing this, but this afternoon is my last here as editor of Shiny Shiny. Without getting all Kate Winslet on your asses, I really have had the most fantastic three years here at Shiny Media, and I'll be really sorry to not be bringing you the pinkest, most diamond-encrusted, most inappropriately vibrating technology ever day. I'll be leaving the site in the capable hands of the delectable Lucy Hedges and the sublime Zara Rabinowicz (whose surname I still have to copy and paste from the site itself) who can be relied upon to continue in the fine tradition of girl-tech Shiny is known for.

So, thanks for having me. It's been a blast.

Oh dear. Now I'm crying.