It’s that time of year when gyms are packed and office holiday parties are regretted. And cookies are both the source of and the antidote to all evil. It’s a time of making (and perhaps keeping) New Year’s resolutions. The keeping part is the hard one, so I always try to give myself some flexibility on my resolutions. In other words, set the bar low. For example, in 2013 I will limit myself to 1 (or possibly 2) delicious cookies per evening. See? Easy.

I also make New Year’s resolutions that are easily kept thanks to great apps. My New Year’s resolutions are below. Pretty sure I’m going to be able to keep all of these.

Get organized.

We have a lot of meetings here at work and I take a lot of notes. But what happens to those notes a few days or weeks later? Well, if I could tell you what happens to them, I wouldn’t have get organized on my list. Evernote lets me organize my notes and I can access them on all of my devices.

Be on time (and be in the right location at that time).

I like to think of it as spontaneity. That moment when I remember I’m supposed to be someplace in just five short minutes. It keeps the heart pumping, you know? But others might find it a tad annoying. I’m going to use Nest to keep my schedule organized. This one is perfect for families who have a lot of schedules to juggle.

Have more fun.

Lightening it up is always good, no matter what time of year. But it can be hard to remember to stop and take a break. I have a lot better luck remembering to loosen up when Bad Piggies is my reward. Have you tried this awesome game from Rovio based on the pig’s point of view? Have you tried it on an Ultrabook? It’s pretty sweet. And we’re making it even sweeter by discounting it to $2.99 for the next few weeks. Hurry! Get those Bad Piggies.

Do something with all of those digital pictures.

In the moment, that photo seems like a great idea. After a few months, I have no idea what I meant to capture. Pancakes? Really? This year I’m going to organize all of those pictures (read: trash) and take the really great ones and make them even better with the CameraBag app. This is an excellent photo editing app that will take your digital photos to the next level.

Don’t eat so many cookies.

There’s no app for that. And also, I’m not really sure I want to keep this resolution.

What are your resolutions for this year? Are you using apps to help you keep them?

I’m a guy, so I wouldn’t normally use the word eek, but there’s a place in my heart that’s squealing like a 12-year-old at a Justin Bieber concert/Twilight marathon. Yes. I am that enthusiastic for the new touch capable Ultrabook. I’m doubly excited because one of my favorite apps of the year, Subway Surfers, is touch-enabled.

I headed into Intel® Software Network’s studios to shoot a demo of this most excellent combo. Now, I want you to watch the video below. Despite my calm exterior, my inner pre-teen is pulling at her cheeks and weeping from sheer joy.

I somehow convinced myself and the guys at Intel® Software Network that I was ready for my close up this week. The guys at ISN were up for it. I, however, had to give myself several pep talks on the way into the studio. And once I was in the studio. And once the camera started rolling.

But I survived the lights and the big lens and made a video demo of Subway Surfers, one of my favorite apps this year. And, better, I showed it on the new Intel®-based Samsung tablet. Watch the video to see the gyroscope in action and my mad subway skills. The hardest part was trying to play the game while pointing the tablet toward the camera. Check it out and enjoy my struggles.

The best part of this story is that I GOT TO KEEP THE TABLET! Can you believe that? Thanks to the Tablet Smart Squad, I’ll be joining in on the #IntelTablets conversation on Twitter! Come join @IntelAppUp and tell us how you’d use or are using #IntelTablets.

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Intel.

You wouldn’t normally think of technology as touching, but it is. Deeply-shed-a-tear touching. Especially if you’re a geek like I am and have taken the plunge into Windows 8 on a touch-enabled Ultrabook™. I can touch the tiles, and through the magic of technology, the computer does something! Cool things! It’s like every sci-fi movie I enjoyed as a kid. And now, one of my tech dreams has come true. (My other tech dreams involve smell-o-vision and a Jetson’s style closet. Not necessarily together, though I would entertain that.)

This particular Ultrabook is enabled for touch, and developers are building apps that take advantage of this new control. Think of ways to interact with your computer and picture playing a game using touch on your PC Or how about the extra sensory reinforcement that kids who are learning on PCs will get with touch functionality. The possibilities of this technology are pretty cool.

In the Intel AppUp® center, we’re celebrating this new functionality with two new sections on our website. Our Touch Screen Apps section lists many great apps to get you started with touch capabilities, including Bad Piggies. Are you a fan of Bad Piggies? Have to get all three stars! Our Ultrabook Software Apps section has apps that are optimized for Ultrabook. Head over there for some excellent apps for kids, such as Crayola Creative Studio. These are a sweet starting point for new Ultrabook users.

Technology just keeps getting better. Plans for the Ultrabook are all about perceptual computing, AKA using tools other than your standard keyboard and mouse to control your computer. Voice control! Gesture control! Facial recognition! See? I’m getting teared up again. All of these advancements are touching, are they not? Have you used Windows 8 yet? Tell us what you think in the comments, or what device you’re using.

Remember [insert number] years ago when [insert crazy holiday thing] happened to [insert family member who, for some reason, is always doing off-the-wall things]? We all have a few great stories from the holidays. I won’t say great holiday stories, because if you are that particular family member who is all too often the butt of these stories you would disagree. I’m not saying I’m this family member, but there are an awful lot of pictures floating around of me deeply asleep after too much holiday food. There might be drool too. But whatever, my family loves me. (I think.)

This holiday season, make those excellent holiday memories last longer by creating some movie magic. The Intel AppUp® center is offering discounts on all of the software you need to make some holiday movie memories.

Movie Studio 11* is now $19.99 – that’s 60% off. With this awesome app from Sony, you can edit and produce excellent holiday movies with some special effects. This makes me think of exploding prime rib. Don’t ask.

Sony’s Imagination Studio 4 is discounted to $99.99 (this one is usually $150-180). This is the deluxe movie editing package and includes Movie Studio Platinum 12, DVD Architect Studio 5, Sound Forge* Audio Studio 10, and ACID* Music Studio 9. It’s a serious piece of software at a seriously discounted price.

Save and share all of your movie memories with the free Box app. Box is jumping into the action by offering five times the amount of storage for a total of 25GB. Box allows you to access and edit your files, and share content.

The holidays are upon us. Take advantage of these offers today. They end on December 10! As for my family, someone please take all of their recording devices away from them.

You know how you have Thanksgiving leftovers for days? And you know how running out to the mall on Black Friday not only means combat shopping, but also that those leftovers are sitting in your fridge not being eaten when they could be getting eaten, by you. Especially the stuffing, mushed up with some cranberry sauce? Maybe with a bit of gravy on top? There it sits, while you’re out there in a battle royale over a fleece robe for your cousin.

It’s not fair. It’s not fair to you and to those leftovers. But there is a solution to this Thanksgiving conundrum: Cyber Monday. This is a whole day where online retailers will discount their goods so you can do your holiday shopping and eat your Thanksgiving leftovers in peace.

This year the Intel AppUp® center is offering some excellent Cyber Monday deals on apps for PCs, including Snagit 11* reduced by 30%, System Mechanic* down to $19.95 and Movie Studio 11* marked down to $19.99, to name a few. To see the rest, head over to the Intel AppUp center for more discounted apps for the PC. Discounts will last until 12/2. But don’t wait that long. Cross things off your holiday list now.

So when your neighbors are heading out at 4 am for Black Friday, I want you to be sleeping soundly, knowing that Monday will roll around and there you’ll be—doing your holiday shopping while finishing off your Thanksgiving leftovers. Thank you Internet!

Nearly a year ago schools around the country entered the Intel AppUp® Wired to Learn contest. Each participating school told their story of how they’d use a technology package from Intel. Arco Iris, a Spanish immersion school with nearly 160 students, gathered more than 6,000 votes to take home one of the technology packages.

Their Intel-sponsored technology package came with seven laptops, among other devices. We’ve recently heard from the schools and we’re pleased to report that the laptops have been helping students who need that extra boost by allowing for one-on-one training and reports on student progress.

Arco Iris also told us that the laptops are in high demand with both the teachers and the students.

Thank you to Arco Iris for the check in a year later. We’re so thrilled that students are getting the additional help they need.

Is there any combo more perfect than chocolate and peanut butter? Well, duh. YES! Angry Birds and Star Wars, naturally. The two entertainment behemoths have teamed up for the brand new, hot off the digital presses game, Angry Birds Star Wars. My mouth is watering!

All of the characters you know and love from Star Wars have been replaced by those very upset birds we all sling with abandon. They are going to take on those intergalactic pigs for the ultimate space battle. I cannot wait to see which piggy is playing Darth Vadar!

And, you know what makes it that much more delicious? The Intel AppUp® center is offering a discount on Angry Birds Star Wars for your PC. It’s now .99, but that’s not going to last. The discounted price will be available for just two weeks. The app will be so awesome on all PCs including the Ultrabook™ with its sweet touch controls. In fact, I think there’s a new, even better combo in town: Angry Birds, Star Wars and Ultrabook.

Yum!

Grab it now, and tell your friends too!

Hello, people all over the world. It’s me, Zach. Here. In rainy Portland, Oregon. I’d show you a picture of our gray skies, but it’s sort of depressing, and you can’t really get the gist of it with a single picture. What’s it look like right now, besides gray, gray, gray? Well, if you had Tango Video Calls, I could show you.

Tango Video Calls allows you to place free calls between Windows Phone, Android and iOS phones and tablets and PCs. If you want to call people in other countries, encourage them to get a Tango account so you can chat for free. Go ahead and invite them by text or email. It’s easy to start a video call once you’re on the line too.

Basically, Tango lets people connect directly with those they care about, regardless of the distance. I know I’ve spent whole days where I’ve communicated with dozens of people but haven’t spoken a single word. Tango allows for a more personal, face-to-face interaction. I’m excited to start connecting with people by Tango. With a video call, I can see an emotion besides a semi-colon, dash, closed parenthesis. And I can see what the weather looks like in other places. Like sunshiney places. You know, places unlike Portland, Oregon in November.

Are you out there and ready to see the other person? And maybe get a jolt of sunshine? Give Tango Video Calls a try.

If I could hug my Ultrabook, I would. In fact, I’ll do it after I finish this blog post. Here’s why: Panelfly Prime. You know what that is? It’s making my life as a comic book geek that much easier.

Panelfly Prime has a new design that offers up the graphics we comic book lovers want, and it makes reading them on my device that much better. The layout is clean and the viewing experience is genuinely enjoyable. I can search the store by publisher, top picks, featured books and titles. And if I’m not sure on a new title, I can check out reviews from my fellow geeks.

And if I am reading on my laptop and need to put it away, Panelfly knows just where I was and lets me pick up where I left off without the dog-eared corners or creased spine. It’s like a comic book lover’s best friend. A BFF, if you will.

And so, I would like to spend a moment preparing my Ultrabook for the hug of its life. Thank you, Ultrabook. Thank you Panelfly Prime. Thank you, technology.

After I hug my Ultrabook, I’m going to quickly open it back up to start a new comic.

Any titles I should be checking out?

As a kid, I used to dream of the day I would have the chance to sit in the pilot’s seat of a space fighter defending my planet–I just didn’t think I would be fighting giant intergalactic chickens. Who can predict such things? Now I love frying me up some delicious chicken wing –extra crispy with a side of intergalactic space battles. Take that giant chicken in purple spandex!

I have been completely addicted to the latest demo of Chicken Invaders now available at the Intel AppUp® Center. This fourth installment of the PC game brings another flock of revenge-seeking alien chickens. They’re bigger and badder than ever, and with more space toys. I think it’s obvious to say I’m hooked–I can’t wait for the full version to be available for download

Chicken Invaders 4 is good for adults and kids. Especially kids who are now adults who still daydream about epic space battles. Check out the free demo for yourself by downloading the game at the Intel AppUp® Center. And here’s a little tip: Eat before you play, or your stomach may start craving some fried chicken.

How do you think the latest Chicken Invaders demo stacks up to the past game versions?