(You're reading all posts by Eli Milchman)

About Eli Milchman

Eli Milchman When he was eight, Eli Milchman came home from frolicking in the Veld one day and was given an Atari 400. Since then, his fascination with technology has made him an intrepid early adopter of whatever charming new contraption crosses his path — which explains why he's Cult of Mac's test editor-at-large. He calls San Francisco home, where he works as a journalist and photographer. Eli has contributed to the pages of Wired.com and BIKE Magazine, among others. Hang with him on Twitter.

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All Mac Aspyr Star Wars Titles 66 Percent Off Through Sunday

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Rebel forces about to be crushed under the hoof (?) of an Imperial AT-AT.

Today is Star Wars day (for the less nerdy, here’s the punchline: “May the Fourth be with you.” Now look at the date.)

In celebration, Aspyr has drastically cut prices on all five of their ported Star Wars titles — both at the Mac App Store and at Aspyr’s own GameAgent site (though they’re slightly more expensive at the former). Two of the titles can be had for as little as $3.30 each.

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Video-Broadcast Startup Spreecast Now Available as an iOS App [Daily Freebie]

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It’s a bit of a challenge to describe Spreecast in a nutshell — hence the clumsy headline.

Watching the service is sort of like eavesdropping on a videochat between a small group of people; only you can also interact with other viewers, and the videochatters (I hereby coin this word) themselves, through live (text) comments. Spreecast has been used by a bunch of big organizations and famous people — a few standout examples include Reese Witherspoon, The Wall Street Journal, VH1 — to broadcast conversations and interviews. Of course, peons like me (or you) can also use Spreecast to broadcast our own chatter.

Spreecast is old news, since it’s been around since late 2011; but now it’s available as an iPhone app.

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Newest Ticket to Ride Pocket Game Goes Free This Weekend [Daily Freebie]

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If you haven’t played Ticket to Ride yet, all you need to know is that the iPad version is the most addictive board game I’ve played on the device. On the iPhone? Nothing even comes close (O.K., except maybe chess and Words with Friends).

This weekend the newest version of the game to hit the iPhone, Ticket to Ride Europe Pocket, goes from $2 to free. Don’t miss out on this one — and make sure you tell a buddy so you can play ‘em.

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Sony Unveils World’s Smallest, Lightest 30X Optical Zoom Point-n-Shoot Camera

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Sony is saying that their new Cybershot HX50V camera is the lightest, smallest 30x optical zoom-equipped camera in the world.

Seems like optical zoom is the new megapixels, at least as far as high-end point-n-shoots are concerned; it’s amazing to see the increasing zoom range camera makers are scrambling to pack into their pocketable shooters these days. For now, looks like Sony might just be the race leader.

Let’s take a closer look at the HX50V.

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Flowboard App Will Be The Most Important Free App You Download This Month [Daily Feebie]

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That statement up there in the headline, that Flowboard will be “the most important free app you download this month” — that’s kind of a bold thing to say.

But it’s not hyperbole; Flowboard’s publishing tools are super-easy to use, letting you easily create electronic portfolios and presentations — heck, even magazines and eBooks — and the finished products, published on Flowboard’s site, are just as easy to share and view.

And if you rarely download anything, well, this may be the most important free app you download all year.

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Just Like The iPhone Version, FX Photo Studio HD for for iPad Goes Free Too [Daily Freebie]

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Photo: Eli Milchman

Last week saw popular photo-editing iPhone app FX Photo Studio go free for a day. MacPhun, the app’s developer, then extended that free day indefinitely — a result, they say, of the app’s overwhelming popularity as it’s blown through a million new downloads since going free.

Now the developer’s doing the same thing with the even-more-fantastic iPad version of the app, FX Photo Studio HD. Only this time, they say the app will be free until it hits 10 million new downloads. Since this is such a stellar app, ten million is not nearly as steep as it seems.

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Griffin’s Amazing Crayola Light Marker for iPad Lets Your Kid Paint With Light

It won’t let your kid paint with light in the traditional, photographic sense — using a light source to burn magical images into a photograph.

Instead, Griffin’s new Crayola Light Marker turns an iPad into a canvas that’s transformed with light — a form of light painting, and just as magical.

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Bazzillion-Filter FX Photo Studio for iPhone Free Today Only [Daily Freebie]

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There’re few photo apps better than MacPhun’s FX Photo Studio for the casual photographer. It’s got a pretty interface, it’s super-simple to use and it’s stuffed with way more filters than any other iPhone app at the App Store (pretty sure this is true; if you think you know of one with more filters, let me know). Normally the app is $2, but today it’s free.

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Free Project Collaboration App Moxtra Now Collaborates With Evernote and Salesforce

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Moxtra is a great, free app that allows groups of users to collaborate using files — video clips, images, PDFs — that they’ve stored in virtual notebooks; some collaboration can even be conducted in realtime.

Back in January, when Moxtra launched, I described the app as a sort of Evernote-Pinterest blend. Now there’s even more blending with the former, because Evernote has added Moxtra integration.

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Tropiformer Gadget Jacket Looks Like it Jumped Right Out of a Bond Movie

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Even before I ever dreamed of writing and taking pictures for a living — I’ll just pause here to let my fellow journalists and bloggers finish laughing hysterically at the idea that earnings from journalism could be considered “a living” — I rocked one of those photographer’s jackets. You know the one — zippers and pockets everywhere. I was a Geek King in the jacket, but I didn’t care; it let me carry all my gizmos and, yes, sometimes even photography gear.

Only the most wizened, old-school photographers use those vests anymore. And there are far better ways to shlep a quiver of gadgets — like the magnetic-sleeved, 22-pocket, Personal Area Network-equipped Tropiformer by Scottevest. Oh yeah.

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