Quantic Dream, the makers of Beyond: Two Souls, created a special demo video for E3. “The Dark Sorcerer” is not based on any game in development, or any particular characters, but is strictly a demo showing how characters can be enhanced in the next generation of video games.

Warning: there is some adult language in this video (basically a few four-letter words), so parents should be aware. Watch at your own risk.

I absolutely love this video! Of course, the visual aspects are amazing, as that is the entire point of the work. The “Sorcerer”, David, looks so lifelike that if I didn’t know he was not alive, I would almost think it was a live video. This is definitely movie quality work, and the fact that it was created for and generated by the PS4 makes it even more wondrous.

Now, the creators could have simply re-created a scene from something else, or not spent time generating any type of story. However, not only did they make this a short little story, it is very funny, and I love how they decided to write it as if the characters are real life actors making a video game. Too bad that this is not related to anything in development, as this could make a good premise for a movie, TV show, or game.

Kudos to Quantic Dream and Sony for bringing us this look into the future. I do sincerely hope that quality like this is indeed what will soon be coming to our gaming experience.

David Tennant and his “Star Wars the Clone Wars” alter ego, Huyang

I wrote back on May 2^nd of this year that, despite the cancellation of Star Wars The Clone Wars, there was the possibility of a bit of a happier ending for the show. At the time I wrote that, the show had received six nominations in the annual Daytime Emmy Awards, presented by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Sunday June 16^th, the awards were announced. Star Wars The Clone Wars won the Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program for its final season on Cartoon Network. Present to receive the Emmy, along with Producer Cary Silver, Line Producer Athena Portillo, and Supervising Director Dave Filoni was none other than the man himself, Executive Producer George Lucas.

Lucas took time to thank the Academy for including animated programming in the awards, gave a shout out to all those who work on their computers on the show, and commented, “We’ve been out there quite a while. We’re proud to finally win an Emmy.” This was the first Emmy, daytime, or prime time, that Lucas has ever won. He had been nominated twice before for two specials featuring Ewoks.

Photo of Emmy won by David Tennant for “Star Wars The Clone Wars” that was posted on Facebook by Dave Filoni

Three of the actors who had done voice work for the show were nominated for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program. Two of them were Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh) and Sam Witwer (Being Human). When the award was announced, it went to David Tennant (Doctor Who) for his work on the show, voicing Huyang, a droid who works with Jedi younglings, overseeing them constructing their first lightsaber.

StarWars.com has a short video that tells the story of the creation of the character from inception to the selection of Tennant as the droid’s voice. Filoni also tells how he made the decision to recruit Tennant for the part. Click here to watch it.

Not only are fans of both Tennant and of Star Wars rejoicing over these awards, but Whovians as well as Tennant is the first actor who has played The Doctor to win an Emmy, period. Combined with Lucas’ first Emmy win, that makes quite a list of firsts for Star Wars The Clone Wars to chalk up as it ends its run. Hats off to Lucas, Silver, Portillo, Filoni, Tennant, and all those connected with the show for well deserved awards, and jobs very well done!

Who knows … maybe Lucas will put in a good word for Tennant to J. J. Abrams about casting him in the next Star Wars movie. Now, that would be very interesting casting!

Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Entertainment took the stage to a great reaction from the crowd, thanking the gamers both at the presentation, and those watching around the world. He mentioned the PS4 portion to come, but said they would be starting with what is coming soon to PS3 and Vita, and I think this was a good move on his part. Unlike companies that belittle those who don’t jump instantly to their newest platform, Sony seems to be making sure they know that the company supports them.

Vita is up first, with Tretton reminding people that while Vita is still relatively new, its player base is still growing, and becoming more popular. New titles coming soon include Batman: Arkham Origins, Counterspy, Destiny of Spirits, and Killzone: Mercenary. Sony is also in the process of remastering many old favorites for the Vita, including games in the God of War and Final Fantasy franchises. There will also be a new episode for The Walking Dead, as “400 Days” will be coming to Vita this summer, and will be available in a new bundle that will include the complete first season with the new episode, as well as special bonus content.

Tretton also emphasized that the PS4 has been designed especially to connect with the Vita. This will allow Vita users access to not only the vast library of over 600 Vita games, but also to the coming list of PS4 games, and that the Vita will be the “ultimate companion device” for the PS4. He went on to discuss some of the media and communications apps that are available on the Vita, including Skype, Netflix, and YouTube.

Next up was the PS3 portion of the presentation. The opening of this section was nice, with video presentations of five of the games coming soon to the platform from their Worldwide Studios Team: The Last of Us, Puppeteer, Rain, Beyond: Two Souls (starring the voices of Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe), and Gran Turismo 6. Of course, as with any video of a coming game, the producers want to show the best, so naturally they looked intriguing. However, what I liked here was that these games were presented without commentary, allowing the videos to speak for themselves.

Publishing partners are also important to Sony. In addition to being one of the games coming this fall to the Vita, Warner Bros. Batman: Arkham Origins will also be coming to PS3 in October. Tretton announced that in addition to the game itself, there would be content exclusive to the PS3 platform, which is sure to please those anxious to play once again in Gotham City. Rockstar will also be bringing Grand Theft Auto V to PS3 in September. Sony will be offering a special GTA:V bundle and a special made GTA headset. The games presented in this press conference are just a few of the almost 300 games that will be released for PS3 before the end of the year.

Before we go on to the PS4 part of the event, let me say that I have liked this presentation so far. Sony is showing gamers that they will not be forgetting the PS3 in the wake of the PS4, and that is a very good thing.

At this point, Tretton turned the stage over to Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and the PS4 portion of the conference. After showing the console, House then introduced Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Entertainment, Chairman and CEO Sony Pictures Entertainment. As much as I liked the first part of the conference, things broke down a bit for me here, as I have to wonder if it was really necessary to do so many stage hand-offs. Better to have more content than to take time introducing more people.

Lynton’s purpose was to briefly discuss the commitment of Sony Entertainment and Sony Pictures to insuring that the PS4 owner will have access to a large array of music, television and movie choices. He also indicated that there would be new programming content coming exclusively to PlayStation Network. House then returned to the stage to announce that both Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited services will be available on PS4 on day one. Not really sure why one of them could not have handled all of this section, but everyone wants their stage time it would seem. House went on to mention some of the other services that will be available on the PS4, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Crackle, Amazon Instant Video, and MLB TV. He also announced a new service that will be available soon, Redbox Instant Service. Redbox will be available for not just PS4, but also PS3 and Vita. Another new service is the Live Events Viewer, which will bring pay-per-view events (live and on-demand) to the world of PlayStation. Also, Flickster will be coming to the PlayStation this fall, for movie enthusiasts.

Ten minutes of non-gaming material. Not bad for the conference. They made announcements that are important to many members of the PlayStation community, but did not take too much time away from other segments of the presentation.

Time for another change of personnel, as Shu Yoshida, President Worldwide Studios Sony Computer Entertainment takes the stage. Unfortunately, Yoshida is somewhat hard to understand, and I would say that perhaps Sony should have used someone else for this portion of the presentation. Also, not sure that everyone really need the info that he gave, and I would have liked to see them cut straight to the games.

The first game in this portion was The Order 1886, from Readyatdawn Studios. This game looks intriguing, and got great crowd reaction. After more from Yoshida, which I felt again was not necessary, they presented a visual look at some of the games that will be coming to the PS4: Killzone: Shadow Fall, Driveclub, Second Son, and Knack. Second Son will be available in the first quarter of 2014, while the other three will be available at the launch of the PS4.

Next up, they took a break from showing games to show a clip from a longer demo that illustrates how the new technology used in the PS4 will be able to enhance characters in games. I have to say that it looked nice, and while this was running on the PS4, it looked extremely realistic. I hope that games in the future will be able to reach this level of visual realism.

Time to spotlight some of the smaller and indie developers creating games for PlayStation, and Yoshida turned the stage over to Adam Boyes, Vice President, Third Party Relations Sony Computer Entertainment America. The spotlight first went to Supergiant Games, who were on hand to show their upcoming game Transistor. Then, representatives from eight other studios, including Clay Entertainment, 17 Bit Games, Young Horses, and Ragtag Studios briefly showed actual gameplay of the games they have in development. All of these games will be exclusively introduced on the PS4.

Going back to larger companies and known franchises, Boyes announced that Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo III will be coming to both the PS3 and PS4. Additionally, for the PS3, there will be exclusive in-game items from the PlayStation universe, such as Drake’s Amulet from Uncharted and shoulder bracers inspired by the game Journey. Square Enix has also partnered with Sony to bring Final Fantasy XV to the PS4, and there was a special presentation of a video update on the status of the development of the game. This was followed by a teaser for another upcoming Square Enix game, the next game in Disney’s Kingdom Hearts franchise, Kingdom Hearts III. Additionally, Boyes announced that Final Fantasy XIV will be coming to both the PS3 and the PS4.

Even though Ubisoft had their own press conference, they did made an appearance during the Sony presentation. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will be coming to the PS4, and the exclusive world premiere of gameplay from the new game was shown. Despite a few video glitches when the screen appeared to freeze, it looks like it has the potential to be a worthy addition to the series. Next up was a demo of Watch Dogs, showing a new city in which to play, and a wide variety of ways to approach the game, since this is not a traditional linear-style game. Additionally, PS4 players will receive exclusive bonus content for Watch Dogs that will not be available on other platforms.

Sports games got a bit of a short shrift this time around, with only one game shown in the conference. Presented were clips from NBA 2K14, featuring Lebron James, not just digitally, but recorded live in an introduction video. This is not the only upcoming sports game for the PS4, and it certainly seems as if there are usually more of this type of game shown each year.

Boyes announced Sony’s new partnership with Bethesda Softworks, and not only that The Elder Scrolls will be coming to PS4, but also that for the first time, it will be in an MMO format, with The Elder Scrolls Online. Further, there will be an exclusive beta for PS4 during the game’s development. Next was another world premiere, with a short look at the new game Mad Max, inspired by the movie franchise. This game will also have some exclusive content for PS4 players.

Tretton took to the stage again as the press conference began to come to a close. He briefly mentioned some games that I thought would have been shown, Call of Duty: Ghosts, FIFA, and Madden. However, it’s hard to complain when they did feature so many games during the presentation. He stated that there are over 140 games in development for the PS4, and that over 100 of those will be available in the first year, and nearly 40 of those games will be exclusive to PlayStation, or will have content that is exclusive. At this point, he takes a shot at Microsoft, stating that there will be no restrictions on used disc-based games which received the best crowd reaction of the whole Sony event. This includes selling, trading, and lending games. Additionally, the disc-based games will not have to be connected online to play (unless of course you deliberately want to do so), and thus if you are playing single-player games offline, you will not have to check-in online periodically for the game to continue to function. Tretton also announced that there will be some improvements made to the PlayStation Network and PlayStation Plus, and that PlayStation Plus memberships will carry over to PS4. Also, Plus members will get instant free access to Driveclub PS Plus Edition as part of the Instant Game Collection program, in addition to a new title every month for free.

For the last game presentation of the conference, Sony went out on a high note, with a video presentation with not just a trailer, but a multi-player demo of one of the highly anticipated Destiny. From Bungie and Activision, Destiny looks like it has major potential, and is thought by many to be one of the best games shown at E3 this year.

House then returned to the stage to talk about the partnership between Sony and Gaiki to bring cloud-based technology to the PlayStation universe through the new Cloud Service. Honestly, I think that perhaps this segment should have been done before the presentation of Destiny. This goes against the flow of the event, as it did feel as if they were going to end with Destiny. They had one last major announcement for us though, with the statement that the PS4 will retail for $399.

I thought that Sony did a great press conference overall. Admittedly, there were a few things that they could have done better, but those were in the presentation aspect. Most of the content of the press conference was wonderful, and did not contain missteps such as the ones made by Microsoft. Indeed, without calling them by name, Sony hit Microsoft right between the eyes, and stated that they believe in all of their current platforms, as well as that they support the gaming community as a whole, both players and developers.

I think this is a great interpretation of the music from the original 1978 film. Calderone has done other film franchises as well, from Batman to Back to the Future to Harry Potter. It is evident in each that he likes the original works, and is passionate about his creations.

Calderone has also tackled television, and has uploaded a number of TV theme songs. Please enjoy his arrangement of music from Doctor Who in his video “Dr. Who Meets Metal” which features not only the main theme, but also “I am the Doctor.”

Also a gamer, Calderone has paid tribute to a number of video games in videos. Everything from Pokemon to Tetris to Kingdom Hearts and many in between can be found on his YouTube page. Additionally, he has dipped into the world of pop/rock music, with tributes to such notables as Michael Jackson and The Mamas and the Papas.

According to a video he uploaded in which he answers questions from his fans, Calderone is a classically trained guitarist, having studied in college, and even earning a masters degree in orchestrating. He studies the scores of the works on which his compositions are based, and writes his own arrangements. The percussion track is created by a program, but he records all of the guitar tracks heard in the videos himself, and combines those audio tracks with the video of him playing the lead and solos to create these wonderful musical pieces. It can take anywhere from 30 to 40 hours to record a single video, and I shudder at how long it takes him to write the musical arrangements.

I’ll leave you with one last composition that pays tribute to musical theatre. Please enjoy Calderone’s metal version of “Phantom of the Opera.”

Here is how the show operates. Six singing acts compete in three head to head duels at the first. The judges, 101 music educators, artists, critics, and Internet sensations vote for which of the two wins the duel. The numbers are revealed, but not who got which vote total. The contestants are given a chance to hit a button, taking a cash offer to leave, or to stick it out and see if they won the vote. If they win, they advance another step toward the grand prize of a million dollars. If they chose not to hit the button and they lost the vote, they leave as they came, empty handed.

From there, there is a second round. The highest vote getter is given a bye into the finals, while the other two duel to join that act. After that, there is a final duel to see who advances to the Million Dollar finale.

The first two duels gave me, at the time, some hope that this very questionable format might work when the clear winners of those duels won. However, the third duel between two ladies was totally misjudged and blown by the 101. The first singer showed ability with the song, great stage presence, powerful voice skills and did the best job. The second singer did not. However, the second singer won the vote by a 96 to 5 margin.

Normally, I would just chalk that up to a blown call, which happens all the time in talent shows. However, it happened against at the end of the show. A brother duo clearly had presented the best performance of the two and should have won. The vote was revealed to be another landslide 91 to 10. The duo thankfully opted to hit the button as they were on the short end of the vote.

Along with my original concern about the format of the show, which was proven to be right, my other great issue is with the judges called the 101. I’m forced to ask a question that a lot of viewers are probably asking as well: did the judges know the background story of these acts before they voted? I must furthermore question the makeup of the 101, as it should include more in the music business (and I mean by that, the REAL music business and not what you’re taught in school) who better know what is and is not a great performance. Two excellent acts were voted off unjustly and in a talent show, that is not acceptable. There is one part of the show that I had absolutely no issue with and that was the choice of the host. Nick Lachey did a fantastic job as host. He was warm, congenial, and kept the show flowing, despite the unfortunate format he had to work with in this case.

NBC and the producers of this show need to either let it run its course and mercifully cancel it, or do some MAJOR retooling before it is dared to be aired in a second season. Yes, talent shows need gimmicks, hooks, or whatever you want to call it to catch people’s attention and get them to watch. However, when the gimmick outweighs the judging of talent, and the judges right out of the gate blow two major calls like this, it is time for grave reconsideration of the content, format, and casting of the show.

One thing this show clearly proves beyond all doubt is that when the show, The Voice, was conceived and created, the producers totally got it right. The only way to audition acts for shows like these is to do so blind, no knowledge to prejudice, no seeing anything, only judging the acts purely by their vocal talent. With all respect, NBC should maybe reconsider The Winner Is and concentrate on the format that is proven to work. That would truly be a winner.

Think about it.

This year Cesar covered WonderCon again and was gracious enough to let us feature his photographs. Below you’ll find a DC Comics photo shoot at the convention with Harley Quinn, Scarecrow and Joker! It’s hard to believe how Cesar will find the most remarkable corners and backdrops to shoot at a convention, rather amazing to see him set up actually. Definitely the sign of an amazing photographer!

Stay connected to Cesar Vivid and browse through the plentiful galleries on his Facebook page

Photographer Credit: Cesar vivid Photography

The goal of the project was to raise the $33,000 it would cost to launch the TARDIS shaped satellite into orbit. Well, folks, all I can say is never underestimate the abilities of dedicated and determined Whovians. With 14 days to go, at the time this column is written, the Kickstarter project has raised over $45,000 dollars and the contributions are still coming it.

While they have raised the initial goal, donations can still be made. Folks need to remember that the people running this project have said they can make the TARDIS even better if more money than the $33,000 is donated. This is an incredible opportunity for Whovians to boldly go where no sci-fi fandom has gone before. So visit their Kickstarter page and check it out!

We will work to stay on top of this and continue to update readers on the project’s progress here on SoEntertain.Me. So, keep checking back for further news on this project.

Next, Yusuf Mehdi (gee, they didn’t say who he is, which would have been nice, and this continued throughout the press conference with some of the introductions) took to the stage with the Xbox360 portion of the presentation. One major announcement was that starting now, the new Xbox 360 would be available for purchase. This new unit is based on the Xbox One design, and is “smaller, sleeker, and as quiet as ever.” Along with this announcement, he also discussed that the Xbox Live Gold memberships would be changing. Not only will Gold memberships carry over to the new Xbox One when it is released, but from July 1 until the release of the Xbox One, new and/or existing Gold members will receive two free game downloads per month, yours to keep. Mehdi said that they would be introducing a number of new titles to Live over the next few months, including Assassin’s Creed II and Halo 3 (however I must note that he did not say for certain that these games would be available as part of the new free download system … I would hope that they are, but I cannot guarantee that … if they are, perhaps they see this as a peace offering for previous missteps by the company … they already strike me as being in damage control mode). He goes on to emphasize the previous statement that Microsoft is committed to Xbox 360, and says that there will be hundreds of games coming to the console in the coming months, including the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V, and a game built expressly for the Xbox 360 that has never been available on any console, World of Tanks.

Phil Spencer then took over to handle the Xbox One presentation. He kicked things off with a look at the new game Ryse: Son of Rome, which will be exclusively available on the Xbox One. Existing franchises will be coming to the console as well, such as Forza Motorsport 5, and they showed some nice footage for this game, including some in-game play footage. New to the world of Xbox will be an indie game that is extremely popular on PC, Minecraft. They is also exploring the combination of gaming and episodic television with Quantum Break. Exclusively for the Xbox One, developers are saying that the game and the show will impact each other in a new and meaningful way.

One “game” that did look interesting is Project Spark. More than just a game, it allows players to actually become game creators, and then share their creations with others. In a live demonstration of the game, they showed the creation of the game setting, including landscape and time of day. Players can take this a step further and rather than just go with the auto-generated landscape features, they can also add mountains, moats, bridges, and almost anything else you can imagine. After that, you are ready to create a game in the new world you have made. You can also make any worlds and games you create available to others so that they can change, enhance, and personalize them as well. A group of friends around the world could create their own experience, each building off what other in the group do.

Marc Whitten was on hand to discuss some of the ways that the new exclusive features that the Xbox One uses will impact gaming, and how these interact with Xbox Live. Features like Smart Glass, Smart Match, Game DVR, and more editing, sharing, and broadcasting options will be widely used in these “next generation” games.

Now, I have one minor problem with their presentation at this point. They are assuming that everyone has already seen their previous information about the new Xbox One. While it is likely that those who are interested in the new console, and regularly follow trends in gaming probably are very familiar with what has been released about the new console, there may be some who are not. A bit more explanation here, or at least a reminder of where to get this information, would have been nice.

The demonstration showed some of the features available with Smart Glass, and how those features can not only enhance one game, but the whole gaming experience. Allowing the Smart Match feature to work in the background while you are playing one game, and then notifying you when you have an opponent for another could definitely be a useful feature for gamers who play multiple games and want to stay busy, rather than wait around while they find someone to play against. With the Game DVR system, your gaming is automatically recorded, and you can use the new Upload Studio to personalize and share clips of your gaming experience. You can add commentary, edit the footage, add a personalized skin, and more. Microsoft has also partnered with Twitch for an even broader way to share your gaming experiences, with live streaming of your games.

After the features demonstration, Whitten announced some more changes to Xbox Live for the next generation. You will no longer be limited to 100 friends, but you can connect with all of your friends. They will be changing from Microsoft Points to real money, and it will use your local currency. However the big announcement was that they are allowing Xbox Live Gold Sharing, so that anyone in your household will be able to use multiplayer features, even when you are not logged on to the system.

The next portion of the conference was presentations of a number of games coming to Xbox One. Some of these games will be exclusive to the new console, while others will be more widely available, but will have different features and extras for the Xbox One. Once again, some things were presented as exclusive which are not.

Crimson Dragon, from the creators of Panzer Dragoon and Phantom Dust is graphically stunning, but the video did not really show gameplay. Dead Rising 3 disappointed many gamers, as they have turned a zombie game that was original into just another survival fest. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was next, with developers saying that they are continuing the aspects of the series that have made it popular such as the non-linear storyline, while also for the first time having an open world environment. The presentation of Battlefield 4 had a glitch initially, but then showed how the developers have used the latest technology to enhance gameplay to 60 frames per second, improving both close quarters combat and land, sea, and air encounters.

Continuing with games, next was What Lies Below. This was one presentation that I believe fell flat on its face. I understand that part of the concept of the game is the mysterious nature, but I still do not believe they showed enough here, and what they did show was simply not interesting. Of course, Halo will be coming to Xbox One in 2014, but frankly, I was not impressed with this video either. It did not seem to have the impact that these presentations have had in the past. Perhaps with all the effort put into last week’s announcement of Halo: Spartan Assault and the upcoming television series, they skimped on this presentation, which I think was a mistake. Words are great, but video is more important when it comes to these announcements.

Before closing with one last title, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One will release in November of this year. They also announced the price, $499. Yes, consoles are becoming more advanced, and they have never been cheap, but I just think that this price is too much for the average person and/or family. I believe there is a genuine risk that they have tipped the point with this where they will not sell enough units, and the better option would have been to price it a bit lower so that it would sell better.

Microsoft closed their conference with a first look at the new Titanfall. This game looks to have nice graphics and interesting gameplay, and was also a hit with the audience. The presentation of this multiplayer game included not only a trailer, but also a live gameplay demonstration.

As always, many of the games look nice, but they simply do not offset the problems and controversy that Microsoft has started with the Xbox One. Many in the gaming community are still upset about the fact that the new console will have to have a constant connection to the Internet, and other limiting features. Microsoft claims that they are going to continue to support the Xbox360, a concept I support, yet their comments regarding both consoles do have a tone of condescension towards those gamers who plan to stick with the current unit. That is not true support, and only makes their other statements sound hollow. Also, as I mentioned earlier, parts of the press conference simply felt like they were a company in damage control, and not doing a good job of it. They can throw all the new perks and fancy benefits at gamers that they want, but if they don’t resolve the underlying issues that the gamers have with the Xbox One, the console will simply not be successful.

You can watch the full press conference from Microsoft, as well as other press conferences at E3Insider.com. The site also has their special E3 Show Daily newsletter (pdf), as well as insider interviews and other news and videos.

That channel is BBC America, which has built on the foundation of the multi-decade hit, Doctor Who, and has become the home for some great science-fiction and fantasy programing. One of those shows Monday night had cause to celebrate as it has not only been renewed for a second season, but its lead actress won the Critics Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series at the annual Critics Choice Awards.

Tatiana Maslany gave viewers of her series, Orphan Black, an incredible season of performances. Playing a person who has been cloned created a situation where she played several characters every single episode. Now, playing one character properly has to be tough, but the number she plays each week is mind blowing.

In the 2013 Critics Choice Awards, Maslany was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series for her work on the series. She was up for the award against a list of ladies that reads like a who’s who of prime time actresses. The other nominees were Claire Danes for Homeland, Vera Farmiga for Bates Motel, Julianna Margulies for The Good Wife, Elisabeth Moss for Mad Men, and Keri Russell for The Americans.

However, the time for the award came, it was Maslany who came up the winner. While each of the other ladies do fantastic work in their own right, Maslany’s incredible work as so many characters in one show that gave her the win and the trophy. We send our congratulations to her for her award, and for the amazing work she does each week on Orphan Black.

If you haven’t seen the show, the next time BBC America runs it, be sure to catch it. You will see acting on a scale that will blow your collective minds.

]]> http://soentertain.me/2013/06/maslany-wins-critics-choice-award-for-orphan-black/feed/ 0 http://soentertain.me/2013/06/furcode-helps-pets-find-their-way-back-home/ http://soentertain.me/2013/06/furcode-helps-pets-find-their-way-back-home/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:51:44 +0000 Jill Rayburn http://soentertain.me/?p=27133 While we do focus on entertainment and related subjects on this site, when a close friend shared information about a new product to help with lost pets, I decided I just had to check out their website and write about it. FurCode is the latest in pet protection, using technology to help people who find lost pets reunite those pets with their families.

FurCode is a new system that uses both a QR code and a personalized website that appears on specially made tags and collars. The QR code can be read by any cell phone that has the appropriate application, and will instantly bring up information about the animal. If you don’t have a cell phone that can scan and read QR codes, you can enter the web address into any browser and get the same information.

What information? Well, that is up to the owner. When you order a FurCode item, you are given the ID and password so that you can log in to the system and input the information you feel is crucial to help someone return your pet. More than just your name and contact information, you can include information about the pet and their health and dietary needs, the name of your vet, and even insurance information. When someone finds your pet, they simply scan the code or go to the website and they can use that information to contact you, and to take care of your pet until you and they can be reunited.

FurCodes are better than other services in many ways. Standard tags can be easily lost or damaged, and can only have a limited amount of information. If you move, or if any of the other information changes, you have to get new tags. Microchips are nice, but they usually involve a paid service with an annual fee, and special equipment is required to read the information. With FurCodes, you can change anything when needed, and anyone with access to a QR reader or the Internet can get the needed information. Also, after the initial purchase of the tag or collar, there are no additional fees or costs.

You can choose either a tag for a collar you already have, or you can get a collar with a “built-in” tag. They have items of varying sizes, suitable for both cats and dogs of all sizes. Each item has a lifetime guarantee, and if you ever need a replacement, it will be free of charge. FurCodes are reasonably priced, and will be shipped free worldwide.

The United States is currently in tornado season, and the hurricane season just started. Every day I see stories on Facebook and other places on the Internet about pets both lost and found, and storms only increase the chances that something will happen to your pets. Please, consider all the options available to you, and find the best way to provide extra safety and security for your family members, whether through FurCode or another system or service.