Hello, from all of us on the Flipnote Hatena team in Kyoto. This is Aaron bringing you the latest in Flipnote news.
Spring is just around the corner in many parts of the world, and here in Kyoto the days are getting longer, and plants are beginning to sprout.
To celebrate the end of winter, we're happy to bring you a new topic this week to brighten up your days. Scroll down to find out more.
We would like to express our thanks to all of you who posted Flipnotes about the weekly topic this past week, and thank you for checking out the news blog.
Looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes!
Flipnote of the Week
★ We really enjoyed this fantastic Flipnote that was posted by Ashie (id:Ashie) from the Europe and Oceania region. This Flipnote features Steam-Bot, Base-Bot, 5-Cog and The Toaster, who are a band of clanky robots that love music and want to bring their tunes to the people of Flipnote Hatena! The music is all original, and was created with pots and pans.
The best of last week's topic: "Hats"
Ladies and gentleman, please remove your hats and caps and sit back and check out our favorite headwear related Flipnotes posted by creators from around the world.
You can see all of the Flipnotes posted about last week's topic at the URL below (be sure to set your content preference to Worldwide to see Flipnotes from all regions):
You can also see the Flipnotes for last week's topic by entering the command 
via "Command Search" on Flipnote Hatena for Nintendo DSi.
"Hats" Flipnotes from the Americas region
★ Katie (id:katies) created this beautifully drawn love story featuring a hat.
★ We liked this colorful and unique Flipnote by cöökiedüde (id:cookiedude) involving a fistfight, a whale, a cowboy and a hat.
★ Take an international hat tour in this cute Flipnote by €lsé (id:Else) featuring sombreros, berets and more.
★ Boxta (id:KlutzyMitz) posted this funny Flipnote that you need to watch to the end to fully appreciate. Moo!
★ The nice movement and shading in this Flipnote by Phenomenon (id:fish-33) caught our attention.
★ 
™ (id:a1989artist) who was the Hatena Featured Artist this week, posted this great Fliptnote about how caps are made.
"Hats" Flipnotes from the Europe and Oceania region
★ Dr Ever (id:DrEver) made this fun Flipnote featuring some animals popping out of a top hat.
★ A chapeaux (hat) takes a brief tour to several cities around the world in this nice Flipnote by redmoustik (id:red-moustik).
★ Frank lovingly buys a new hat for his wife in this Flipnote by geezer (id:geezerdk).
★ A visitor to a hat shop finds the perfect match in this funny Flipnote by Oleo (id:KitsuOleo).
★ kurotenshi (id:cloudirl) created this Flipnote about a towering trio of top-hat clad characters.
★ We enjoyed the cute story, animation and sound effects in this excellent Flipnote by Matthew (id:Megamatt6).
"Hats" Flipnotes from Japan
★ A young child and his pet try on some hats in this Flipnote by Isofrabon (id:eikaisan)
Editor's note: We wrote the wrong name for the user abive earlier, and have now fixed it -- please accept our apologies for the mistake!
★ Yamawaro created this excellent Flipnote about some gunslingers and a red cowboy hat.
★ We enjoyed the fine attention to detail in this short Flipnote by Hatch (id:season02) about a young woman and a magic hat.
★ utopian (id:rsythh) made this surreal and unique Flipnote about a character and his cap.
★ Watch as a baby girl travels through a lifetime of hats in this Flipnote by Piko chan.
★ Break(Nanadayo！(id:fhyhyjj) posted this cute Flipnote about a magic top hat and a rabbit that plays back nicely in loop mode.
This week's topic: "The Sun" (Mar. 4, 2011 - Mar. 10, 2011)
This week we would like you to show off some of your brightest ideas about "The Sun" and post them to Flipnote Hatena. The sun provides us with warmth and light and is an essential part of our lives. Create animations featuring the sun, solar powered fantastic machines, sun tans, great balls of fire or sunshine on a springtime day.
We are looking forward to seeing your Flipnotes, and will feature some of the best ones in the next edition of Flipnote Hatena Weekly News. Post the Flipnotes you create to the channel below from Flipnote Hatena on your Nintendo DSi.
Also, please do not use copyrighted music in your Flipnotes if you want them to be featured here.
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):
We will feature some of our favorite weekly topic Flipnotes in next week's edition of the Flipnote Hatena Weekly News.
10 Billion Hatena Stars Campaign -- Get ★2 stars back!
On February 21, 2011 the number of Hatena stars that have been used in the world reached 10 billion. Stars are used by people to mark Flipnotes that they like, or to share their thanks or feelings with others as a new kind of communication tool. To show our appreciation to all Flipnote Hatena users we are pleased to announce a special campaign to mark this milestone. Starting from today until March 11, 2011 (Friday), you will get two color stars back every time you exchange color stars for a theme in the Color Star Exchange. Take advantage of this special campaign and get some new Creator's Room themes in the Color Star Exchange.
This week's new themes
The Flipnote team has created two new Creator's Room themes that are available in the Color Star Exchange this week. Below are some screenshots and details about the new themes.
★ This theme features roses and shiny water drops. (20 color stars)
★This theme features a mythical two-headed wolf creature. (10 color stars)
Weekly Frog Sighting
If you are interested in having your frog photo or illustration featured in the "Weekly Frog Sighting" section of the blog please post them on Hatena Haiku and we might feature it here.
Please submit only original photos/illustrations that you have created yourself.
★ id:Gabtraf posted this nice illustration of a blue frog and a big bug. Cool!
★ id:×××××××××× posted this pixel art drawing of the Flipnote Frog!
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. Thanks!
★ You can also see comments posted by Nintendo DSi users by viewing the comments for the Flipnote below:
