This is Aaron at Hatena in Kyoto, Japan. I hope you've all had a good 2nd week of 2010 and that things are going well for all of you.
Starting from this week we will be giving the creators of Flipnotes that we feature in the weekly news blog some rare, color stars. Until now, we always added some color stars to Flipnotes that we featured in the news, but now we will actually add some color stars to the accounts of the users that we feature.
Since we don't yet have color stars available for purchase for users outside of Japan, this is a great opportunity for you to get some new types of color stars.
If your Flipnote wasn't featured this week, please try posting about the topic in the weeks to come. We're looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes!
In this week's edition of the Flipnote Hatena news blog, we're going to show you some of our favorite Flipnotes based on last week's topic "Jumping", and introduce our new topic for this week which is "Snow".
If you post Flipnotes about the weekly topic, we might feature yours here on the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News blog next week -- post your Flipnotes and join in the fun!
Lastly, scroll to the bottom of this blog entry to see Weekly Frog Sightings where we feature original frog photos and illustrations from users like you. Post your original frog photos to Hatena Haiku (post to the keyword "Frog Sightings") and we might feature it here next week.
Read the Flipnote Hatena News blog in your language
Here is a list of the URL's that you can use to read the different language versions of this news blog:
- English:
- French:
- German:
- Italian:
- Japanese:
- Spanish:
Thanks to the help and support of MdM you can also read a translation of this blog in Italian. Please be sure to check out the other language versions of the blog, since there are some differences between each version. It might be a good way to learn a foreign language too!
If you are interested in helping us translate the blog to French or Spanish please get in touch with us. Please note that this is a volunteer position, but your work will be very much appreciated by all of us at Hatena and the Flipnote Hatena community.
Also, please let us know any feedback you might have about our blog by posting your comments in the box at the bottom of this blog entry.
The best of last week's topic: "Jumping"
As of today, there were 2,202 Flipnotes posted by users from around the world for last week's topic. We've selected some of the best of those Flipnotes from the past week which we hope you'll enjoy.
You can see all of the Flipnotes posted by users for last week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
http://flipnote.hatena.com/ch/11538387229176953490
You can also see the Flipnotes for last week's topic posted from your own region by entering the command
"Jumping" Flipnotes from Japan:
★ If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Check out this great Flipnote about a search for treasure by Kyousuke (id:kyou-suke).
★ Jump around the world in this cute Flipnote by Sakuranbo. If only air travel was this easy...
★ We often think that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. However, sometimes you're surprised when you don't find what you expect, like in this Flipnote by Kuu (id:kuu-furime)
★ We liked the heartwarming story of a little bird that jumps and tries to fly in this Flipnote by ☆MOON★. Even when something seems impossible, you can probably do it if you try...
★ Since many of you probably ate too much food during the new year holiday, you might want to try jumping rope like the bear in this Flipnote by Aka
★ A cat tries to hop. step, and jump with mixed results in this Flipnote by Kohaku (id:kohaku10). Luckily, cats have 9 lives.
"Jumping" Flipnotes from the Americas region:
★ You'll like the attention to detail in this dramatic Flipnote about a paratrooper by CRヨAMPUFF? (id:nitrocreampuff). The Hatena offices in Kyoto are on the 9th floor, but we have not tried anything like this before.
★ Check out this funny Flipnote by Grindolf (id:Drake_Dawson) about a man who jumps off of a cliff. Can you guess the ending?
★ There is a type of moth larva that matures in seed pods, native to Mexico known as a Mexican jumping bean. In this Flipnote by Lady Grace (id:RGLOVE) a Mexican jumping bean comes to life and jumps around and entertains us with some music.
★ We really liked this beautifully illustrated jumping horse in this Flipnote by FreedoMare (id:Freedom_Mare). Good job!
★ This cool Flipnote by Andre (id:masterofpuppets) makes use of the Nintendo DSi camera application for it's background, combined with a hand drawn character. We hope that Andre is doing well in his geometry class too!
★ We felt bad for this unlucky jumping character in this Flipnote by Sir Dante (id:CLEEZE). We hope that the stick figure has health insurance!
"Jumping" Flipnotes from the Europe and Oceania region:
★Two twins jump around in this strange and wonderful Flipnote by Kelsie (id:kelsie)
★This Flipnote by Trudi (id:Trudi) about a little bean shaped baby jumping around reminds us of a Japanese television commercial for pasta sauce made with Tarako (pollack roe/fish eggs).
★ Enter a world where people can inflate their trousers and bounce into space, in this wacky Flipnote by monna (id:monnaXD)
★ Fleas are jumping all about in this funny Flipnote by Katana (id:KATANAs4n). We especially liked the little parachutes that the insects use!
★ Hinto (id:Hinto) returns again this week with a Flipnote about an original character that jumps around. We always like the interesting, original soundtracks by this creator!
This week's topic: "Snow"
For this week's topic we'd like you to post Flipnotes about snow. See what you can create based on this topic, and post it to channel 8 from Flipnote Hatena on your Nintendo DSi.
We're looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes, and will feature some of the best ones next week here in the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News blog.
You can see all of the Flipnotes currently posted about this week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
Follow Flipnote Hatena on Twitter
We've started a Twitter account to keep you updated about the latest news and happenings at Flipnote Hatena.
Follow us at: http://twitter.com/flipnotehatena
Weekly Frog Sighting
If you are interested in having your frog photo featured in the "Weekly Frog Sighting" section of the blog you can post it on Hatena Haiku (post to the keyword "Frog Sightings") and we'll choose the best ones and feature them here.
Please submit only original photos/illustrations that you have created yourself.
The frog sighting for this week is a photo by Michael77, our new staff member from Germany. Michael writes the German version of our news blog, and is a cool guy who also translated the Flipnote Hatena website to German.
This is a statue of a frog in Osaka, Japan that brings people all sorts of luck if you touch it's stomach.
In Japanese the word "frog" also has the same phonetic sound as the word for "return". For this reason, the frog is often used as a symbol for luck, money or happiness returning to you.
Another bit of trivia is that the frog used for the "Undo" button in Flipnote Studio is also based on a phonetic gag similar to the one above. The word "frog" in Japanese is pronounced "kaeru" which sounds like the word "furikaeru" meaning to flip back or turn around. This explanation was provided to me by Yoshiaki Koizumi at Nintendo, one of the creator's of Flipnote Studio.
Thanks for taking the time to read our blog, and please add a star if you enjoyed it!
Also, please let us know what you think about the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News blog by posting any comments you might have in the box below.
