When those friends, family and old college acquaintances came up on your screen and you were invited to connect with them after years and maybe decades of no contact.

For me many looked the same, others a bit older and some I couldn’t recognize. It was a bit of a “Wow” moment. Global connection in an instant in full living color.

The network touched us, connected us and provided glimpses into lives forgotten but still lived. It allowed us to share photos, videos and stories of our adventures. Some glimpses into others lives are exciting, others intriguing and some just border on the mundane.

Engaging with your friends online from your news feed can be done in a variety of ways from placing a comment, sharing the update  or just hitting “like” if we don’t have much time.

But we are still working out the ways to play.

Does the “Like” button need an alternative?

The ever present “like” button seems to have been with us forever. In fact it has only been with us for just over four years on personal pages and replaced the “become a fan” button on brand pages in June, 2010.

We have all seen those updates from friends where we silently say “I didn’t want to know that!” Other reactions are sometimes “too much information” and sometimes you feel like saying “I don’t care“.

Maybe we need buttons like “funny” when you see an update like this.

“I am proud of myself. I finished the puzzle in just 6 months while the box said 2 to 4 years“.

9 Updates Deserving the “I Don’t Care” Button

Here is a fun look at 9 types of  updates that don’t need a like button.



Infographic source: By www.themaplekind.com  - where you can waste a lot of time and also have a chuckle.



















































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Toy Story Smash It!

Buzz Lightyear blasted onto mobile this week in a brand-new Toy Story-themed game. In the 3D physics-based game you play the role of Buzz, who is trying to knock down the aliens and stop the evil Zurg with a number of different balls. Throughout the game’s 60 levels, the aliens position themselves in new and unique ways on blocks, toys, and even model trains.



Harlem Shake Creator

Haven’t made a Harlem Shake video yet? A new Android app helps you create the perfect video with step-by-step directions, built-in music and an in-app video uploader so you can send your creation directly to YouTube.



Twitter for Windows Phone

Twitter updated its app for Windows Phone this week, adding support for Live Tiles. Accounts you follow can now be pinned to your home screen for easy access, with live updates appearing on the tiles themselves when they’re posted.

The update also includes the Home, Connect, Discover, and Me tabs found in other versions of the app. The tabs function much like they do in the Android and iPhone versions of Twitter.



YouTube

YouTube updated its iOS app Thursday, adding the Send-to-TV feature it introduced for Android in November of last year. With the update you can use your iOS device to send YouTube clips to Google TV, Xbox or PlayStation 3 and watch them on the big screen.



Waze

Waze released an update this week that enables drivers to report closed roads on the social GPS service, in real time. Enabling them to help others navigate around areas that might be temporarily shut down for obstructions such as a street fair, road construction and even damage from a hurricane or tornado.



Carrot

Have trouble getting things done? Carrot rewards and punishes you based on how many items you complete on your to-do list. When you complete a task, you earn points that can later be redeemed for prizes like jokes and compliments. Don’t finish things on your list? Carrot gets very angry.



Real Racing 3

Love racing? EA launched Real Racing 3 this week. The free game features real tracks, real drivers, and even real cars including Porsche, Lamborghini, Dodge, Bugatti, and Audi.



A new Android app helps you be part of YouTube's latest craze, and a popular racing game is back with a brand new update.

Think we left one off the list? Let us know about your own app highlights from this week in the comments, below.

Image courtesy iStockphoto, scanrail.



































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ProxToMe

Need to send files from your phone to a friend? How about a group of friends? ProxToMe is a new app that lets you see other iOS devices around you, and then send a file from your phone to theirs, instantly. The app can be used for everything from sending a movie to your best friend, to sending your band’s latest single to concertgoers.


Highlight

Highlight released version 1.5 this week. The updated location-sharing app for iPhone and Android now allows you to upload pictures and create location-based events.


SwiftKey

SwiftKey updated to version 4 this week. The new version of the app adds SwiftKey Flow, a new take on gesture typing that predicts words from the moment you touch the screen. It predicts the next word as soon as you stop typing the first. What's more, a new feature called “flow through space” allows users to enter entire phrases with a few simple gestures.


Sunrise

Ex-Foursquare designers released a new social calendar app for iPhone this week. The free app can be synced with multiple Google calendar accounts, Facebook, and LinkedIn, so you’re sure to stay on top of all your events. Taking the concept one step further, users can also post to a friend’s timeline on Facebook, or send text messages to friends from directly within the app.



Mokriya Craigslist

An new app by Mokriya brings an officially licensed, ad-free version of Craiglist to your mobile phone. The app lets you browse through listings on your iPhone or Android, perform GPS-based searches based on your location and post Craigslist ads from your mobile phone.



Thinglist

Thinglist is a new app for storing ideas and recommendations for later on. A private, simple app for keeping track of things you want to remember, it can be used for keeping track of everything from the name of a restaurant you want to try out, to the name of someone you meet at a party.



































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1. @_VonCount

Who loves to count? Count Von Count does, that's who -- and he will make sure that you know it if you talk about him on Twitter.

2. @Betelgeuse_3

Don't say it...you know what will happen.

3. @RedScareBot

A Joe McCarthy spambot filters through the Twitter "black list" by searching for anyone tweeting about communism.

4. @LogicalB0t

Professor Spock in spambot form seems to selectively tweet anyone who talks online about space, NASA, the Enterprise, Spock and other geeky topics.

5. @KingLeonidaz_

Any Twitter users claiming something is "madness" will get a famous response from the spambot version of 300's King Leonidas.

6. @MarmiteBot

Love it or hate it, this Marmite spambot will let you know he's listening.

7. @StealthMountain

Stealth Mountain takes one small step for spambots, and one giant leap for grammar. Anyone misspelling "sneak peek" will be corrected.

8. @THEUNlVERSE

Any philosophies or accusations about the universe will get a witty and sarcastic response.

9. @Jedward

Irish pop duo Jedward has a younger fan base on Twitter, so you can imagine the amount of people getting the "We are Jedwardbot" automated response.

10. @EnjoyTheFilm

Though it's no longer active, Cabin in the Woods fans might have received an unwanted spoiler if they tweet about plans to watch the movie.


Nearly every Twitter user has fallen victim to spam at one point — there’s no argument that it’s annoying and detrimental.

But not all of it is bad — in fact, some of those spambots are not bots at all. There are parody accounts that will filter through specific topics and respond to unsuspecting users, like @THEUNlVERSE.

There are still spam accounts using automated third-party applications too. As Twitter cracks down, the more sophisticated spambots find ways to avoid suspension.

For those who might crack a smile at a harmless spambot reply, see 10 of the funniest accounts in the gallery above.

Can harmless spam be funny when executed properly? Let us know in the comments.










































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Vyclone

A new iOS app called Vyclone will change the way you shoot video with your friends. The social video app allows uses the GPS in your phone to determine your location, and find others who might be shooting the same scene as you at the same time. When two or more people are shooting the same thing, Vyclone will combine those videos together into a single multi-camera editing video.

AutoRap

With Smule’s proprietary “rappification” technology, AutoRap maps the syllables of your speech to any beat, creating a rap. The free iOS app has a Talk Mode which morphs your speech into a rap, as well as a Rap Mode that takes your rapping skills to the next level by “snapping your syllables to the rhythmic grid of the underlying beat.”

Highlight

Location-sharing app Highlight was updated this week. The updated version of the app adds a Post nearby feature, allowing you to send out messages such as Does anyone have an iPhone charger?” to people nearby on Highlight. Other updates include more personalized notifications, Interest Pages, Notes, and better Facebook integration.

100 Doors

There’s more than one way to open a door. Android puzzle game 100 Doors gives you –you guessed it – 100 doors you have to figure out how to get through. Completing one door in the simple game allows you to advance to next.

Ski Safari

Escape an avalanche on your Android device in Ski Safari. In the game you play the role of Sven, who is working to escape an avalanche. The escape can involve skiing, but also riding animals to escape faster and achieve a higher score.

Twist

Twist is an app designed to let family members, colleagues, and friends know when you’re running late to a meeting or gathering. The app calculates your arrival time to a specific location and then shares your ETA with the people you choose.

The app can be used while walking, driving, or taking public transit and runs in the background using proprietary GPS and cell tower data algorithms to minimize battery drain.



It can be tough to keep up with all the new apps released each week. But you’re in luck: We take care of a lot of that for you, creating a roundup each weekend of some of our favorite new and updated apps from the week.

This week we found an app that will let your friends and co-workers know when you’re running late, and another that can turn you and your friends into a rap star.

If you’re looking to make some new friends, a popular location-sharing app saw an update this week that makes finding people with common interests and friends easier to do.

While you’re out and about, another new app lets you create a multi-camera video with people located around you.

If you’re looking for something relaxing to do while you’re at home or on your commute, two new games for Android are bound to keep you entertained.

Scroll through the gallery above for a look at this week’s app highlights.

Still looking for more? See last week’s Apps to Check Out for some other interesting mobile apps worth a look, and let us know about your own app highlights from the week in the comments.





























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