Caught in the Net: It's fine for some

The practice of “shark riding” – cease thy sniggering – has gone viral, with thousands of hours of online video now dedicated to the pastime.
For the uninitiated, ‘shark riding’ involves grabbing one of the cuddly underwater killing machines by the dorsal fin and being pulled along. It sounds crazy – and, judging by the videos, that’s exactly what it is. sharkattacknews.org/search/label/Riding%20a%20Shark?max-results=6
If you’re a video gamer you probably shared the disappointment when Josh Goldberg’s Full Screen Mario, a cracking flash ‘cover version’ of the iconic video game was yanked from the interweb following the intervention of Nintendo’s lawyers. But cease your weeping – there are LOADS of other great retro-style flash games to be enjoyed. Our favourites include IndestrucoTank (best video game name ever), Final Ninja and RoboKill. All feature cutesy old school graphics and lashing of mindless mayhem. What’s not to love? armorgames.com
It’s no surprise that, at HP the magazine, we’re big fans of HP, the writer. We refer, of course, to Jazz-era macabre wordsmith HP Lovecraft, an author who never saw an over-wrought metaphor or eye-bleeding adjective he didn’t want to strap to an altar and sacrifice to the gibbering gods of chaos. Such is HPL’s popularity, an Etsy style online marketplace devoted to all things Lovecraftian opened recently. Named after his famous alien god, at Cthulhu Curious you can peruse Lovecraft-themed boardgames, artwork, plush toys and replicas of ancient stone carvings. Foolish mortals, you’d be insane not to visit. curiouscomplex.com/cthulhucurious
With Xbox One and Playstation 4 just out, the fourth gen console smackdown is ON! But what if you’ve don’t have the spare cash to plonk down on one of these sparkly new pieces of kit. Friends, there is an alternative. Priced at an eye-popping € 99, Ouya is pitched as the cheap, deeply cheerful alternative to the grunting Megaladons of the console market. Running a bespoke version of Google’s Android mobile operating system Ouya features marque titles such as Final Fantasy. In time for Christmas, a limited-edition white model has been launched – at a little over the price of some Xbox and PS4 games. Ouya.com
Okay, so Peter Jackson’s first Hobbit movie was dark, dreary and faaaar too long. But, many fans are (presumably) hankering for the follow-up, which arrives on December 13. Until Desolation of Smaug roars into cinema however, you can explore Tolkien’s Middle Earth from a different perspective. The world of hobbits, Nazgul and Ian McKellen staggering around in an increasingly unconvincing beard has been brought to life by Google Maps. middle-earth.thehobbit.com/ What has it gots in its pocketssss? Um, some keys and an iPhone..