Here’s my latest addicton, taking over where Trism left off. It’s Drop7, and it’s just wonderful.
The rules are very simple: drop the numbered discs into the grid. If the number on the disc matches the number of discs in that column or row, that disc will vanish and you’ll earn points. Hidden discs are revealed by making their neighbours vanish. It sounds simplistic but it soon gets fiendishly challengng, especially as extra rows of hidden discs appear whenever you move up a level.
But the main thing I’ve noticed about Drop7 is the way other people react to it.
The Cult team members are not famous for colorful desktops, but when I saw this little beauty I felt it deserved some link love. This gorgeous desktop picture (and its slightly spikier sibling) are now available for free from the generous hands of Wolfgang Bartelme, having recently made something of a splash of their own on Flickr.
Wolfgang is no stranger to design gorgeousness, having also created other desktop and iPhone wallpapers like Dashball, ColorFlow, and ColorFlow 2.
A Spanish pickpocket may be among the first to beta test Microsoft’s answer to the iPhone and Google’s open-source Android mobile software. An Australian telecom chief reported the theft during the Mobile World Conference wrapping up today in Barcelona, Spain.
The prototype phone and a copy of the yet-unreleased Windows Mobile 6.5 was taken from the pocket of a Telstar executive. Microsoft lent the prototype to Telstar’s CEO soon after announcing Windows Mobile 6.5 at the Mobile World Conference.
“One of our product executives was given the phone to test the system. He had it with him at an organized evening event and it was stolen from him,” a Telstar spokesperson told the London Telegraph.
Now there are two. Apple Thursday told service agents it will no longer support the 20-inch Cinema Display, leaving its new 24-inch LED Cinema Display and older 30-inch version as the only external display options.
In a bulletin, Apple said the 20-inch Cinema Display had reached its End of Life. As a result, the Cupertino, Calif. company would cancel any pending orders.
The news prompted speculation Apple may soon end support of the 30-inch display, leaving just the new 24-inch LED display designed for Apple laptops.
Ooooh, now this is interesting. Flux solves a problem that I didn’t even realize I had.
It automatically adjusts your computer’s monitor brightness according to the time of day and likely lighting conditions. Most screens look fine during the morning hours, because they’re made to be BRIGHT like the day outside. But when you come back to them after dark, or even just as evening’s falling, they sear your eyes and you reach for the brightness controls.
Flux automates that. Tell it your location and the kind of lighting you normally work under, and it will do the rest. I like the way you set it up and forget about it after that – it will take care of everything without you having to think about it. My kind of software.
More consumers are satisfied with Apple computers than products from PC makers, indicates a new survey. The Cupertino, Calif. company registered 81 percent consumer satisfaction compared to 67 percent for its nearest PC competitor.
The survey by ChangeWave Research asked customers who had purchased a computer in the past 90 days whether they were very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with their choice.
Apple garnered an 81 percent “very satisfied” rating, while PC maker ASUS earned a 67 percent “very satisfied” ranking. Acer received a 61 percent satisfaction rating while 56 percent of Sony customers were very satisfied.
Jonathan Zdziarski, creator of the first iPhone forensics toolkit, has developed a new iPhone app called AMBER alert, aimed at helping find kidnapped children in the US.
These alerts are issued when missing child cases are granted Amber status — kidnappings of children under age 17 who police believe to be in danger of bodily harm or death.
Zdziarski’s iPhone application will provide a real-time feed of recent alerts including victim photos and information, suspect photos and descriptions, vehicle photos and descriptions and a reporting mechanism allowing users to report sightings.
The Amber Alert program was created in 1996 after the kidnapping and killing of nine-year-old Amber Hagerman from Arlington, Texas.
Wired founder Louis Rossetto’s new business, artisan chocolate company TCHO (technology + chocolate) lives up to its name.
The San Francisco chocolate plant is full of industrial hacks, including common kitchen gadgets, like turkey roasters and curry mixers, a $40 space heater from Walgreens and a dryer duct. (Take a peek inside the chocolate works with a video).
Where does the iPhone come in? Tcho founders commissioned an automation software to allow for 3-D monitoring of the labs from the device.
They’ll be checking on a new kind of fermentaria, boxes used to naturally ferment cacao, developed by former Nasa scientist Timothy Childs.
“In Peru, we’re setting up weather and fermentation monitoring and sensory analysis. We are putting temperature probes in the middle of fermentation boxes,” said Childs. “We are creating a baseline of data. We are telling farmers to charge us more for beans when they get it right. We are saying, ‘If you go from 60 percent fermentation to 72 percent, we will pay more.’ We want better uniformity in fermentation.”
Just Tuesday we reported on the sad news that Apple decided a South Park iPhone app that allowed downloading of episode clips would be “potentially offensive,” and so barred it from distribution in the AppStore.
Here’s a how-to video for all the jailbreaking criminals out there who just can’t live without South Park on the iPhone.
Dude has pretty good taste in music and a very easy-going instructional manner. If you’re willing to flaunt “the law” he shows you how to download South Park episodes to your iPhone and even how to put ’em on your PC.
iPhone developer Jason Cross has the antidote to the nine thousand fart apps available on the AppStore, an ingenious application called iFreshener.
FIGHT BACK against Fart app inanity!
Simply launch iFreshener and touch the screen. Using its non-patent-pending psychosomatic virtual smell nonenzymes, iFreshener will make you and those around you feel like better smells are on the way.
Among the reasons Cross touts for spending 99¢ on his app:
* iFreshener costs less than the average name-brand non-virtual air freshener
* Non-virtual air fresheners eventually run out of air freshening chemicals. iFreshener’s virtual smell nonenzymes never run out (so long as you keep your iPhone/iPod charged).
* iFreshener won’t blind you if accidentally sprayed towards your face.
* Free updates for life are included with iFreshener.
Do you get free lifetime updates with real world non-virtual air fresheners? I think not!
The bottom line to the story here is clear: after Friday Boxee users will no longer be able to stream Hulu content through Boxee’s media center platform.
What’s less clear is who holds the cards in the deal — is it Boxee, Hulu, or the content providers on whom both of them depend for existence — and who will win in the end.
As usual, consumers, at least in the short run, get the short end of the stick.
Hulu CEO Jason Kilar put the best face on things in a blog post Wednesday, saying, “we stubbornly believe in this brave new world of media convergence,” while admitting that without Hulu’s content partners’ content “none of what Hulu does would be possible.”
A Boxee spokesman told Cult of Mac, “our goal has always been to drive users to legal sources of content that are publicly available on the Internet.” He said as a bridge between the converging worlds of traditional and online media Boxee can be a revenue generator for both content streamers such as Hulu, as well as for original providers. “We have many content partners who are generating revenue from boxee users and we will work with Hulu and their partners to resolve the situation.”
For now, after accounting for the cost of a robust internet connection, consumers can still access content from Netflix, ABC, CBS, MTV and more for free. But where Boxee will fall in the ongoing scrum for ever-tightening consumer dollars among cable providers and network content producers remains to be seen.
These simple, sleek iPod touch custodians made of wood also double as stands.
These Dutch-designed cases are called iWood Touch (what else?) they’ll set you back about $100 (€80). Miniot offers them in four different types of wood ( cherry, oak, padouk – the reddish Asian wood pictured above — and walnut) for first gen iPod touches and two for second gen (just padouk and walnut). They’re a little pricey, but have the advantage of looking enough like an eyeglass case that they might thwart a thief or two. Your monogram or short message of love are carved into the case as part of the price.
If you find wood is good, new two-tone versions of their iPhone covers are also available, though these do seem to clunk up the design of the device a bit.
Owners of Apple’s iPhone should not hold their breath waiting for a version of Flash for the favorite handset. Adobe is now reticent to talk about whether it was working with the Cupertino, Calif.-based company.
“Adobe needs more from Apple to succeed than Apple ordinarily makes available to iPhone software developers,” Dow Jones wrote Tuesday after talking with an Adobe spokeswoman.
The refusal by Adobe to comment on its relationship with Apple caused one Apple fan site to pour cold water on previous suggestions the two companies were working closely on an iPhone version of Flash.
Cult reader Flunky Carter shares this interesting survey of his iPhone shot using a webcam’s Night Vision.
Small cracks and stress fractures he says are not visible to the naked eye under normal lighting conditions show Apple’s mobile device takes significant wear and tear in the real world.
Although the economy has caused it to curtail opening more retail locations in 2009, Apple Wednesday officially added France and Germany to its list of European stores.
Two locations appear to be vying for the spot as Apple’s first storefront in Paris. The most well-known is one slated in the Carrousel du Louvre, a mall nearby the famous Louvre museum. However, a store is also on the drawing board situated close to the Paris-based Garnier operahouse, according to reports.
Following its Paris premiere, Apple is expected to launched another French store in Montpellier.
During bleak economic times, companies need to welcome the faintest rays of sunshine. That appears to be the word from one analyst forecasting lower sales for Apple’s upcoming March quarter.
“We believe this data will be perceived as a neutral or a slight positive given the uncertainty surrounding the Mar-09 quarter,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told clients Tuesday.
Sifting through numbers from NPD and internally, Munster expects -6 percent growth for Mac sales, compared to the second quarter of 2008.
Cell phone maker Samsung Tuesday added its name to the growing list of manufacturers joining the Android bandwagon. The company said it would unveil at least three handsets based on the open-source Google mobile phone platform in 2009.
In a Reuters interview, Samsung’s product strategy chief, Won-Pyo Hong, said ‘at least three’ Android phones would be produced, the first appearing in the later half of this year. Previously, the No. 2 cell phone maker had said its Android phones would appear in the Spring.
Although the company released few details, talk has surrounded Sprint and T-Mobile as the handset’s U.S. carriers.
There are many co-workers who would be wise to read this message before approaching, just wonder if over time, they’d start pretending you hadn’t declared yourself the resident grouch.
Jakob Nielsen is the one of the world’s leading Web usability experts. What that actually means is that people spend a lot of time criticizing him, as he spends a lot of time criticizing them. That’s especially true because his website, Useit.com, is stripped of flashiness to the point of looking a lot like a HyperCard slide deck circa 1992 — but without any visuals.
Nielsen has finally delivered a new verdict on the mobile web (it’s been about nine years), and, to the surprise of no one, he hates it. Regular phones are “horrible,” smart phones are “bad,” and the iPhone is “impoverished.” He also says some fairly common sense things that are none-the-less often ignored, like, design a website that fits the strengths of the device that will view it.
The only really interesting line comes near the end, when he makes reference to Silicon Valley legend Alan Kay’s proclamation that the Mac was “the first computer worth criticizing.”
“Similarly, the iPhone is the first mobile Internet device worth criticizing. It’s a starting point for mobile online-services access, not an endpoint.
Although devices will get better, the big advances must come from websites. Sites (including intranets) must develop specialized designs that optimize the mobile user experience. Today, few sites have mobile versions, and those that do are usually very poorly designed, without knowledge of the special guidelines for mobile usability.”
Apple made a huge detail about the non-removable battery it created for the 17″ Unibody MacBook Pro. By going with a sealed design, the company argued, it would be possible to make a much-higher capacity battery. Well, the guys over at iFixit have had their way with one of the new models, and it’s pretty clear the battery isn’t THAT hard to remove. It actually surprises me how much it looks like the interior of my existing MacBook, giant fans excepted.
Definitely check out the full slideshow — it’s good stuff. Anyone picked up a 17-incher yet? What do you think?Check out a couple more shots from iFixit’s meticulous disassembly operation after the jump.
Anyone who went to elementary school in the 1980s can tell you that the world’s best edutainment game of all time is Oregon Trail for Mac or Apple ][, which plotted the westward journey of pioneer families in search of Pacific prosperity and their inevitable deaths of dysentery in snake bite somewhere in Wyoming.
Thankfully, the chance to relive those days on the go will soon be available to iPhone and iPod touch users in the form of a beautiful remake of the original from Gameloft. No announcement of the release date, but IGN has some screenshots, and it’s clear that the new graphics are quite lovely. And who wouldn’t want to play a fair river-fording minigame? There’s a demo at Gameloft’s site, but it looks like the iPhone graphics will be even nicer. Seriously, if you haven’t picked up an iPhone yet, this alone is the reason to do it.
The long-awaited South Park iPhone app (submitted to Apple last October) has been officially denied AppStore approval, according to Matt Stone, creator of the hit Comedy Central television show, who informed fans in an email to BoignBoing Tueday. “We are sad to say that our [iPhone] app has been rejected. According to Apple, the content was potentially offensive.”
Memo to AppStore Gatekeepers: “Huh?”
The South Park iPhone app was a little something that would have given fans of the show and other users the ability to stream clips, grab wallpapers for the phone, read news, and browse the complete episode index.
A cool feature that would likely have been a big hit with many was the ability to choose character likenesses as “contact images” for the iPhone’s address book. An incoming call from a user’s best friend would display as Kyle or Cartman; the medical marijuana dispensary could be Towelie; Tony Bourdain could be Chef, etc.
This is indeed sad news and further evidence of the persistent inscrutability of Apple’s AppStore approval process, especially in the light of users already being able to purchase entire episodes of the foul-mouthed tv show directly from iTunes.
AT&T announced Monday its next-generation 4G network will be commercially available in 2011. The carrier had previously said the new network would begin trials in 2010.
The 2011 timeframe would put the exclusive iPhone carrier a year behind rival Verizon Wireless, which has said its trials of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network would begin this year.
For AT&T, the shift in timing for introducing LTE differs from previous statements by the carrier suggesting it intended to use its 3G HSPA, or HSPA+, technology until 2012.
Norwegian Mac support company Teknograd likes to have fun with its advertising campaigns, and this latest one is the cleverest idea yet.
In recent years they’ve had a series of ads showing a Mac desktop where the Hard Disk is under attack from a mass of files and folders. But for this year’s campaign, they wanted something new that made use of the default Leopard desktop wallpaper.
The result is these TIE fighters, created by advertising agency TBWA. I asked them how they did it – surely not with real icons on a real desktop? No.
“We have photoshopped this, in almost 400 layers, but each folder is named individually, so it was a hell of a lot work. Martin Holm, the illustrator and art director, just passed out when we asked him how long time it took,” they told me.
