As someone who has spent countless hours trying to photograph my own cats, I have nothing but the utmost respect for professional pet photographers like Michael Kloth, who manage to make the art of capturing the perfect feline pose look easy.
Kloth, whose graduate work centered around photographing local adoptable animals, continues to volunteer his skills to raise awareness for shelter pets, by exposing their unique personalities and stories through his captivating images.
In 2010 he released "Shelter Cats," a book highlighting some of the cats and kittens available for adoption from Benton-Franklin Humane Society, Woodford Humane Society, and Tri-Cities Animal Shelter. Michael sells limited edition prints and gallery wrapped canvases of selected images from the book online, but what really caught my attention were his beautifully shot kitten-themed wallpapers, that will give any smartphone an added dose of "aww!"
How do you make just about any website better? Temptations Canada recently rolled out a wacky new browser add-on that will whip any online destination into a "feline frenzy" with their cracked out cat treats. (And with all of the racket it generates, it might bring a few real cats running, too.)
To access it, simply visit the Temptations Facebook page, and drag the bag of virtual treats to your bookmarks bar. Next, visit any website (like your favorite cat blog, for example), and click the 'KittyCat Hijack' bookmark. Start shaking the bag of treats to capture the kitties' attention, and next thing you know, it's a KittyCat Hijack! (There's an instructional video here if you need help). One shake yields a lone kitty peeking out through the middle of the page, while several generate a psychedelic collection of fun loving felines, plus a musical soundtrack accompanied by purrs and meows.
Silly? Sure, but still tons of fun. I've already "tested" it out on Catsparella, People, Jezebel, Catster, and USA.gov.
He may only be 1'2" and weigh 9.7 pounds, but despite his slight stature, Eureka, MO native Buddy is Friskies' top cat gamer and undefeated champion of their latest interactive app, "You Vs. Cat."
In honor of March Madness, the cat food giant trotted out Buddy to compete against college mascots from around the country, where the fluffy tailed tabby swept the first ever "dual species" iPad match (but to be fair, how easy can it be to aim towards a goal when you're wearing a large fur bear costume?).
Unlike Friskies previously released interactive games for cats, "You Vs. Cat" inspires some friendly competition between you and your feline. Human players fling playing pieces towards a goal, that kitty must try to block for points. Each game is the best of 50, and all points for Humans and Cats are added to the You vs. Cat World-Wide Leaderboard, which currently tallies strongly in favor of the felines.
The free app is available now for download on iTunes - where the brand also offers some helpful tips for gameplay. Pre-game activities include assuring your cat is comfortable on a bed or mat (so they don't slide around), and teaching them the "wait" command so you can touch the tablet screen without them swiping at your hand and splattering blood all over your expensive electronic device (just kidding!).
If you were on the fence about getting the new iPad, you now have the purrfect excuse!
Feline Gamers Rejoice As Friskies Releases First Ever Human Vs. Cat iPad Game
Back when Priscilla was a kitten, she loved to sleep on top of my computer monitor. Now that I've graduated to a laptop - and she's "put on a few pounds" - she makes herself content sprawling across the keyboard, rubbing her head against the side of the screen, and lightly chewing on the power cord, which bears the unmistakable mark of tiny kitty teeth.
While most of my technical complaints are cosmetic, Reddit user pope_friction was having far worse problems. His cat had taken a liking to his warm wireless router, and her habit of indulging in hours-long naps on the device was causing his internet to hit the skids. Frustrated, he took to his ISP's online forum to try to find a solution. His plea was tongue-in-cheek, but one supervisor took it to heart, and offered up a purrfect example of good customer service.
The problem is the router is apparently very attractive to my cat. She sleeps on top of it for most of the day and frequently knocks the aerial about, taking my wireless network down.
She stays in the position shown above for hours, with the top of her head against the top of the router, as if she's interfacing with it somehow.
I'm sick of my internet going down all the time due to this - is there a fix?
I was thinking perhaps Be (the ISP provider) could send me a decoy router, then I could hide the real one somewhere else. I'm not sure if she could tell the difference."
***
He wasn't expecting much of a reply, but received a helpful response, along with a hidden plea for more cute cat pictures (emphasis added is my own):
"Dear Liam,
I'm contacting you regarding your post on our forum.
For many years this issue has bothered our customers. As you can see in the thread it is not only the BeBox susceptible to such feline interferences. We have brainstormed this for a few hours, but regrettably we were unable to find any plausible solution.
We decided to send you a decoy router as you requested, however we will need some proof that the cat in the picture is a real one. Can you please send us more cute pictures of the aggressor?
Also we will need appropriate address for the decoy router to be sent."
***
The company shipped out the decoy as promised, and the adorable - albeit, gullible - Tuxedo kitty ended up taking the bait. Liam is now able to browse the internet uninterrupted, however, there's no word yet on what happened when the cat discovered she could no longer go online to check her Catster profile.
If you're having similar issues, there's some interesting tips on how to curb your cat's technological curiosities over on the Wired How-To Wiki.
Last year, we got a peek at Necomimi - a conceptual brainwave reading device, equipped with a pair of cat ears programmed to react based on how you're feeling. For example, eating a cupcake might make the ears perk up with delight, while watching "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" might make them bow in shame. However, if you're like me and would prefer NOT to have the electrical activity of your brain monitored for the sake of questionable (albeit cute) fun, Instuctables user abetusk has come up with a way to replicate the device at home, using a controller to move the ears, instead of relying on those pesky things we call emotions.
Abetusk says, "I wanted to build something that wasn't too expensive and was easy enough to be done in a sitting or two. I picked out some cheap servo motors, some craft supplies, spent a weekend or two developing code to control the servo's from a microcontroller and after much trial and error, I built some kitty ears that I think are pretty decent."
If you have a soldering iron, AVR Programmer, and some black and white craft fur taking up space in your closet, step-by-step instructions for the project can be found here.
My cats pretty much declared breading as dead, but one intrepid app designer/loyal boyfriend figured out a way to bring the magic of in-bread cats to those of us whose kitties are unwilling to participate.
Sal tells me his girlfriend told him about breading, and how she couldn't get the cats to sit still long enough to get a slice to stay on their heads. Being the awesome guy that he is, he decided to make her an iPhone app for Valentine's Day, so she could virtually torture bread her kitties to her heart's content!
Priscilla
Now, the app is available for anyone who doesn't feel like wasting a perfectly good slice of bread for the sake on an internet meme. After reading that I had similar troubles, Sal sent me the BreadIt app to try for myself. It features ten different breading options - including whole wheat, raisin and different shapes - and after selecting your material, you can drag, pinch and rotate the bread until you get the purrfect fit. The best part is you don't even have to stick with cats - you can pick whatever picture you'd like, so you can have the pleasure of breading your friends and family, too!
The BreadIt app is available for purchase now in the iTunes Store for 99 cents - and as for Sal, he's currently under consideration to receive a Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of cats all around the world.
Spare Your Cat's Dignity With The Bread It iPhone App
This is the true story of ten kitties, picked to live in a house, work together and have their lives taped, to find out what happens when cats stop being polite and start getting real...The Real World: Friskies!
Ok, it may not be an official spin-off of the popular MTV reality franchise, but Friskies has assembled a similarly voyeuristic paradise for ten lucky foster cats and kittens who get to spend the next two weeks in luxury at the Friskies Plus Playhouse.
The two-room feline utopia boasts many impressive features, including a built-in aquarium and a touch screen-floor, where the cats can play Friskies Games For Cats (including the ever popular 'Cat Fishing') until their little heart's content.
The Friskies Plus Playhouse will be broadcasting live every day from 3PM - 6PM EST now through February 19th on Facebook, where viewers will have the chance to not only waste time while basking in the glory of live streaming cats, but also interact with them as well.
As I write this, I just finished wiggling around a toy for a playful tortie, an adorable white kitty, and a black kitten who delighted in my virtual feather stick waving skills. Truth be told, I waited about a half hour in a virtual queue for the opportunity that lasted less than two minutes, but it was still probably the best thing I did all day. If you miss any of the live broadcasts, Friskies will be uploading daily video highlights clips on their YouTube page
I'm also happy to report that these aren't just any ordinary felines. Each of the house's residents, who were chosen on a variety of factors including personality and age, come from MeoowzResQ Kitten and Cat Rescue out of Orange, Calif. Friskies hopes that by participating in the live stream, cat lovers will draw inspiration for playing with their own cats, and also help to find these furry babies a forever home of their own.
Now, what are you waiting for? Get thee to the Friskies Facebook page and click the Friskies Plus Playhouse tab to start watching these adorable kitties in action - right meow!
If I didn't already have a cat lady iPhone cover, I'd have my paws all over this obscenely adorable KiKi Kitten Case. The smartphone shield, which fits all iPhone 4/4s models, features a cuddly cat clutching your phone from behind, while its little face peeks over on the front!
The colorful covers, which are sure to generate a lot of attention, are available now for pre-order from Strapya World for $18.20 each.
Chester is on his way to becoming a social media manager!
Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga better watch their Klout scores, because cats around the world are ready to show their real web influence with cat toys that tweet on demand.
When Mark de Vinck's family decided to adopt an adorable stripey orange kitty named Chester, he soon got tired of relaying the cat's up-to-the-minute antics to his wife, who missed them while she was away at work. In an effort to cut out the middleman, Mark, being the crafty gentlemen that he is, created a contraption called the "Kitty Twitty." The device consists of a brightly painted box with a switchboard inside, and a cat toy attached to a wire on top, allowing Chester to post automatic Twitter updates with the simple flick of paw.
If you're the technical sort with an ambitious streak, de Vinck has posted detailed step-by-step instructions for the gadget on Make Projects, and also hopes to post future modifications that would allow you to track your cat's sleeping and food consumption habits as well.
The concept of felines making their own social media updates isn't entirely a new one; Just last month, recent MA grad Samuel Cox turned an old eMac monitor into a light-up, self-tweeting cat bed that automatically sends updates to his kitty's Twitter account, which you can follow at @eSleeper1.
Samuel Cox, one part recently finished MA student, another part cute guy with cat (sorry, he is!), has created what he calls, "a 21st century cat basket, an ideal resting location for any cat."
Housed inside the shell of an old Apple eMac monitor, Cox's eSleeper is controlled by an Ethernet Arduino that receives data from an infra-red beam. When entering the bed, the cat is greeted with "the iconic Macintosh start-up chime," along with "relaxing waves of color." Once naptime is over, the cats exit prompts the sensor to dim the lights, and send out an automatic tweet, displaying various phrases, along with the amount of time kitty was holed up in its dreamy, technological oasis.
Recent status updates from Samuel's cat's Twitter account (which can be found @eSleeper1), have included musings on going to the vet ("Vet day today :( Managed to stay in bed for 41 minutes before I was dragged out"), cat fights ("Fuming!!! Had a catfight and was sent to bed. I've given it 41 minutes and I'm going out. Hopefully he's still outside..."), and Justin Bieber ("Horrible nightmare. My owner dressed me up as Justin Bieber and 171 minutes in I was singing 'One Time'. Wait...that wasn't a dream.").
Imagine being away work or out wherever and checking Twitter, only to find that your cat has been busy sending status updates (err..napping) all day long? Now if only I could get Cox to invent a similar device that would send out longer, (semi) random blog posts, then I could take a nap while my cats do all the work!
There are such things are slow cat news days, and other times when I fear my inspiration has dried up, but the makers of the new writing application Written? Kitten! have devised a powerful motivator to keep the words flowing even when the proverbial well has run dry.
Written? Kitten! thwarts writers block by rewarding you with impossibly cute, fresh kitten pics, but only after you've typed in 100, 200, 500, or 1,000 words (you can set your own limit).
Once you hit the first 100, there's really no stopping there. You'll find yourself saying, "But if I just type in 100 more words, I will get another kitten!" And these aren't just any run of the mill kitten pics. They're high quality fluffy kittens, who gaze at you with their darling little eyes, as if to say, "I believe in you! Keep going!"
I sampled the program myself to type this post, and I'm pretty sure I completed it in record time (the picture you see above was my first reward). In fact, maybe I'm even just typing this sentence and drawing it out a little longer just to see one more kittenface grace my screen. Can you really blame me, though?
I love how after one short press, kitty pushes down continuously, like "Let me in, right meow!" This little doorbell contraption reminds me of the self serve kitty elevator, and proves we are just one step closer to the elusive cat phone.
Clever Cat Learns How To Use Custom Kitty Doorbell
Toss your Tamagotchi and ditch your Neopet, because KITTY!, a new app for the iPad, has poised itself as the latest answer to all of your virtual pet needs. As if having real cat comandeer your tablet weren't enough, now "groundbreaking technology" will allow a virtual cat to take over your device while you enjoy stroking its realistic 3-D fur.
Depending on how you play with it, the kitty will look at you, purr, and playfully swipe (what, no hissing? how realistic is that?), and in addition to being great for children and allergy sufferers, is also guaranteed to save you a ton of money on food and litter.
Even virtual kitties get annoyed when you poke at them
I can't think of anyone I'd rather receive a call from then my cat (sorry friends and family), so this is one futuristic invention I can totally get behind.
GOOD sifted through some of the hundreds of thousands of patents received every year by the United States Patent and Trademark office, and came across an application for the "Domestic Animal Telephone," submitted by Mark W. Kroll of Crystal Bay, Minnesota.
The premise is that since so many people leave behind their cats and dogs while they're at work, then why not create a phone where owners can make calls to and receive calls from their pets when they're away. The twist, of course, is that getting your cat to answer a phone would be an invention in itself, and once they get through to you, it's bound to be a one sided conversation.
Another proposed feature is that the phone "will release a human scent to the animal by remote command," to help reduce separation anxiety, and "an apparatus to allow a human owner at a remote location to release a small food treat to a pet."
God help us all if cats figure out how to pick up a telephone and ask for treats. On second thought, I'm getting an unlisted number now, just to be safe.
Ok, so maybe the Sphero isn't made exclusively for cats, but neither is the iPad, and yet somehow both have become part of an emerging market of pricey gadgets aimed towards your technologically savvy tabby.
Sphero is reportedly the word's first robotic ball you control with your smartphone, that also works with games that are downloadable on any iOS or Android device. To put that in layman's terms, it's a plastic ball that flashes lots of fancy colors, and can be controlled from a distance to roll around your house to the delight (and probable) annoyance of your feline.
This revolutionary gizmo is priced at $129.99, and can be reserved now on the Sphero website, with an estimated late 2011 release date. While that may seem like a lot of money for a glorified cat toy, maybe if you crank out enough adorable videos like the one seen above, you can make up for the cost in YouTube advertising revenue.
Etsy seller Mochikaka has come up with the purrfect solution to digging through your bag, only to find your headphones in a big knot! Just wind up the cord and snap it in place on her adorable handmade wire keeper and keychain, for easy and untangled storage on the go.
Also, be sure to check out her shop for other fun and functional cat-themed items, like these sweet key covers and this kitty coin purse!
Cute Kitty Keychain Keeps Your Wires From Getting Crossed
I hope everyone had a great weekend! Yesterday I spent the day with my friend and fellow cat-blogger, Ann Dziemianowicz, in New York City on our first ever cupcake crawl.
We started out the day indulging in delicious macarons at La Maison du Macaron (I highly recommend the pink champagne flavor), followed by visits to Billy's Bakery and Sweet Revenge, to share some more sweet treats. As we roasted in the sweltering heat, we walked The High Line, did some window shopping, and made a stop at Bookmarc, a shop specializing in books, Marc by Marc Jacobs accessories, and other "specialty" items, such as Marc Jacobs- branded lipstick pens, heart shaped mirror compacts, and t-shirts... for dogs.
One item I picked up along the way was the Miss Marc iPhone cover (fits all iPhone 4 models), featuring a crazy-eyed cat woman clutching her two cute, googley-eyed kitties, as some furry mice look on. If you're in the area, you can stop by the store, located at 400 Bleecker Street, to pick one up for yourself, or it's available for purchase online at shopbop.com (where they also have the cover for 3G models) and Bloomingdale's.
No iPhone? No problem! Jessica just let us know that there's a matching tote available at Zappos.
Do you have a cat related phone/tech case? Please share in the comments!
Well, it finally happened. My ancient pink Motorola Razr took a trip over the rainbow bridge last week, and was quickly upgraded to an Apple iPhone.
Razr, we had a lot of good times together, and I'll always look back on those memories fondly. Remember how excited I was when we first met? You were always there for me during those important phone calls, and even forgave me that time I was walking outside, got startled by a spider, and dropped you on your pretty pink head.
Even when your back fell off last year and I taped you up, you kept on trucking, right up until the very end, when the simple act of sending a text message nearly drained your entire battery.
Admittedly, it was a bit spiteful of you to leave me now since the iPhone 5 is coming out in just a few short months, but it's ok. I forgive you, and hope you don't take how quickly and enthusiastically you were replaced as a sign of disrespect. It's just that me and iPhone 4 hit it off right away, and it just gets along SO well with my other friends, especially my bestie: MacBook!
Plus, I think you can appreciate that a phone that stop being manufactured in 2007 is not very app friendly, and as a blogger of cat culture, I have to stay up to date on these things. I mean, who else is going to report on the latest Talking Tom news, or inform the masses of the Kitty Wigs iPhone application?
***
Yes, friends. That was just my long-winded way of saying, "I finally got an iPhone!"
And with the way my brain operates, the first thought I had after the contract was signed was this: CAT APPS! There are, of course zillions on the market, and a cursory search of "cat" in the Apple app store produces an overwhelming, endless list that I cannot even to begin to explore on my own.
So for our purposes, this list is mainly focused on the most popular, interesting, and (sometimes) free cat apps for your phone. Note that it's not in any particular order, and I haven't tried all of these apps myself (yet), so check out the reviews, and use your discretion before buying them. Also, I hope to do more posts on this topic (or add updates) in the future, so please leave any recommendations and/or glaring omissions in the comments!
CatPaint promises that you can easily add a slew of kitties - 8 to choose from in all - to any image. It was brought to the forefront last year by songstress' Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, when the latter tweeted this image of the two palling around, with the caption, "Hanging out with @katyperry is super fun except for the herd of domestic cats that follow her around."
Since then, the app has added laser beams coming out of cat's eyes as an bonus feature, and has been adopted by other celebrity users such as James Franco and Kat Von D.
Kitty Wigs comes from Julie Jackson (love her!), creator and author of "Glamourpuss: The Enchanting World of Kitty Wigs." The cute, photo enhancing app allows you to place multi-colored wigs and funky glasses on yourself, the cat, or dog of your choice.
I'll be the first to admit that when I saw some of these videos of a cat that repeats what you say and responds to your touch on YouTube, they freaked me out (Ok, they still do). But, Talking Tom still deserves a mention for being one of the most popular applications in the app store, and in fact, Talking Tom Cat 2 is currently in the ranks of the top 25 free apps.
It's also worth noting that this week it was announced the maker of the app, Outfit7, signed a deal with Hollywood agent William Morris in hopes of creating books, toys, and more based on the creepy character - He's not going away anytime soon!
Fans of the British comic about a misbehaving moggy, rejoice! This app is one part musical, and one part game: You can compose your own songs and watch as Simon's Cat sings them back, or play the game to have Simon's Cat test your ability to follow his lead in a series of musical challenges.
It's still not entirely clear to me what the game is all about, but this "addictive" app has stellar reviews, and features Nyan Cat's doppelganger, Tac Nayn (aka Tac-9), which seems like it would make it worth the 99 cent price tag alone!
These two free apps by the cat food giant, the first by any cat food company in general, aim to engage the pet owner, instead of the pet. Studies have even shown that they not only help improve sales, but also have a positive impact on perceived taste of Friskies cat food among consumers (really, people?).
Wonderland Quest II is a multi-level game where you must find the hidden game pieces before time runs out, and the recently released Call-A-Cat, reproduces the sound of a popping cat food can, shaking bag of treats, birds chirping, and more, to keep your kitty amused and confused for hours minutes?
MewMew Tower is a Japanese game that challenges you to stack as many cats on top of each other as possible, forming a caterwauling tower high in the sky! I first learned about this fun app while doing a Cat Cupcake Tuesdays post back in March, when I found someone who had created cat cupcakes, inspired by the game!
Cat Translator was created as an "entertaining and useful tool to help you learn Catspeak so that you can better understand and communicate with your cats." The app comes with a library of English phrases that are translated into meows, that play out loud.
Instructions warn against "confusing or stressing out your cat by playing the "angry" phrases while they are nearby." 10% of the proceeds from Cat Translator downloads are donated to Kansas City animal shelters and spay/neuter clinics.
Create you own meow-velous musical numbers using this app that is exactly what its name implies. One intrepid user even recreated Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," in part, by using the iPad version of the app.
"Digital Photography Never Looked So Analog." While technically not cat related, the popular photography app is worth a mention for spawning its own single serving Tumblr site: hipstamaticat, where users submit pics of their own cats taken under the app's various old-timey lenses. Here, Priscilla got the Hipstamatic treatment with the default John S lens and Ina's 1969 film.
Another similar photography app that's gaining traction in the blogging community is Instagram. The joyously free and easy to use app allows you to take pictures and then pass them through an array of different filters to change the mood and feel of the pic. I took this picture of Charlie and applied one of the filters, and kinda love the dreamy results! The application also enables you to create a profile, post and share your pics Tumblr style (or through Facebook and Twitter), and follow other users updates.
In addition, there's also a companion site, instac.at, where you can view an endless stream of cat photos taken with Instagram, at your leisure.
In an attempt to illustrate that the AT&T Samsung Infuse offers, "Colors so real, it's almost unreal," the cell phone provider employs an impossibly fuzzy orange kitten with a loud purr and a tiny, heart-shattering "mew!" to do its bidding.
The little pumpkin colored chap chases after a ball of string that doesn't really exist (a metaphor for life, perhaps?), while all I can think about is HOW MUCH BETTER this is than their current "Spider" commercial that scares the crap out of me every time (I don't mind the spider so much as the woman screaming bloody murder.)
(Advance video to 0:50 for cat rescue action)
Meanwhile, in this second commercial for the Galaxy Tab, Samsung once again plays up the naïveté of felines, as the tablet is used to lure a disgruntled looking Persian out of a tree using realistic fish imagery.
I don't think he's buying it
While they may easily be thwarted by new technology, at least someone at Samsung recognizes that cats are smart enough to sell electronics!
