Jake Ludington - Mediablab

Tipping Point 2

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:11:18 -0800

Tipping Point 2 continues the adventure on a deserted tropical island. You must solve these new puzzles if you want to help the strange visitor from episode one! Interact with eerie surroundings and uncover hidden clues by clicking. You can't do anything wrong. And when you're finished, stay tuned for the next episode - the story continues!

Maze Stopper 2

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:11:40 -0800

Get your guy to the flag first! Build an obstacle course that lures your opponent off the track in Maze Stopper 2, an online strategy game. Use your mouse to place obstacles on the course while time is frozen. Press space when you are ready to freeze or unfreeze time. Collect mana power-ups so that you have energy to place obstacles. Unlock all 25 levels for the ultimate in strategic fun!

Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:11:44 -0800

Peeking Town`s got Election Day fever! Join world-renowned mystery writer Miss Terri Tale as she “polls” her neighbors in true Peeking Town fashion. Snoop around town gathering information on everyone`s voting habits in this all-American Hidden Object Game. Who will be the town`s next mayor? Buy Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me today and find out!

Traveling Light and Cutting the Cord

Jake — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:10:41 -0800

In preparation for our Thanksgiving trip to Disneyland this year, I’m trying to travel light in the technology arena. Because I’m the go-to guy if anything goes wrong on JakeLudington.com (okay, I’m the only guy), I must have a computer with me no matter where I’m going. Cutting the size of that computer down has always been a goal I’ve met with varied success. I used a Tablet PC from Fujitsu for awhile and found it handy, but ultimately had to return it to Fujitsu. I liked the idea of the ASUS EEE PC when it launched, but ultimately realized I need at least the 1024×600 screen resolution I had with the Fujitsu. HP presented me with the solution in their new HP Mini 1000 line, which comes in either a 10.2 or 8.9-inch screen size. I opted for the 8.9 since the resolution is the same and in theory a smaller screen should use less battery. After 70 minutes of round trip time on the ferry tonight, I’m reasonably convinced the HP Mini will work. I answered some emails, IM’d, edit a couple photos, and uploaded a handful of files, which covers the bare necessities of what I might need to do. With easy connectivity via my Verizon EV-DO card, I’ve cut my backpack travel weight by at least 3 pounds. Makes me wonder if I really need a 15-inch laptop at all, since most of my video editing is done on a desktop system.

The biggest frustration I find in adding a new computer to the mix is managing all the stuff I need to have available. In some ways, this week’s newsletter is dedicated to that problem, because uploading files to a central storage location like makes sure I can always find the files I need no matter what computer I’m interfacing with. Picnik comes through in a pinch for most of the photo editing I might do. And I could presumably do a fair amount of video editing with Yahoo’s Jumpcut service. Not to mention document and spreadsheet management with either Google Documents or Zoho. Still there are things I find convenient to have that all take time to install. Roboform is one thing I won’t be without. I need SnagIt for screen captures. I use Google Talk almost daily, although that’s one I can access from GMail if I need to. And getting all the software updates installed on a new computer can take an hour or two, depending on what software you need. I’d use PCMover for something like this, but I’m not really moving PCs.

Do you have a ritual you go through to setup a new computer? How about when you travel? Are there things you sync with your laptop before you leave? Or do you keep files somewhere out on a network where they are always accessible? Share your thoughts.

Tipping Point

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:11:39 -0800

Another lazy evening at home. Or is it? In Tipping Point, you come home from work to find an urgent message from a strange visitor who needs your help. Solve puzzles and uncover clues to help the visitor and unravel the story in this quirky online adventure game. Click on items to interact with them. You can't do anything wrong. Finish this episode and then stay tuned for the next - the story continues!

Outback Olympics

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:11:18 -0800

Put yourself to the greatest tests of backwoods meddle ever assembled in this monumental three-in-one action game! Toss pigs farther! Crush cars harder! And blast more gourds to smithereens than your opponents to claim the title of the world`s most powerful olympian! You don't need a mesh hat and boomerang to play Outback Olympics, but it doesn't hurt!

Xlink BT Cellular Bluetooth Gateway

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:10:17 -0800

More and more people are cutting off their landlines and going strictly cellular. While being rid of a costly bill, having your cell phone as your sole means of communication can get annoying after a while. After having it in your pocket on vibrate all day, you get home and forget to turn the ringer back on making you miss calls. If you can hear it ring however, you have to run around your house looking for it. And sometimes it doesn't work in certain rooms of the house.

Enter the Xlink BT. This magic little box hooks up to your house phone (that does not require landline service) and up to 3 bluetooth cell phones, allowing you to receive and make calls on your house phone through your cell phone. You leave your cell phone within range of the Xlink and your calls will be heard throughout your house via your house phone. No more missed calls or dead zones. And each cell phone has a different ring tone so you can tell who the call is for.

Stop hunting down your cell phone at home. The Xline BT is available for $79.99.

The Gardener

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:11:39 -0800

Do you have a green thumb? Be The Gardener and harvest vegetables, fruits, and flowers in this online Time Management game. Click on the seed menu to choose from 21 different plants you can grow. Click in the garden to plant your seeds. Keep your plants healthy with proper watering and pesticide use. Watch the weather and the timer if you want to be the best gardener!

Posit Science's Brain Fitness Program Improves Memory

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:11:04 -0800

Posit Science has designed a series of exercises for the auditory system to be done on the computer that can significantly improve hearing and memory.

The Brain Fitness Program has been clinically proven to increase auditory processing on average, up to 131%. This means that people could keep up with the speed of speech, thus improving comprehension and memory. In fact, 90% of a group of people over the age of 65 reached processing speeds typical of people under 40.

The program is easy to use, individually modifies to your performance, and easily fits into your schedule. It's recommended that you complete 35-40 hours within 3 months for maximum benefit. That's less than 30 minutes a day.

The Brain Fitness Program is available online and over the phone only, for $395-$495.

3 New iPod Touch 2G Shields by Agent 18

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:11:43 -0800

Protection specialist Agent 18 has released their case line for the iPod touch 2G.

The EcoShield is great for us environmentally conscious types. It's made of a scratch resistant hard-plastic derived from recycled plastic bottles. Even the packaging is made from recycled materials. It comes with silicone pads to protect the inside.

The ClearShield offers protection without covering up the sleek shine of your iPod. This one has rubber pads on the inside.

And lastly, there's the FlowerVest featuring a flower design that appeals to the hippy in all of us. It's a lighter form of protection made of a silicone, bounce back case.

All cases leave all connectors and screens accessible and come in multiple colors. Except the ClearShield of course; it's clear. The Agent 18 cases are all available for $24.95.

Callpod Drone, Versitile USB Bluetooth Adapter

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:11:43 -0800

Callpod's newest Bluetooth gadget, the Drone, is interesting in a not too terribly interesting sort of way. It's a 100 meter ranged USB transmitter that works with lots of Bluetooth ...things.

It works with headsets for you Skype and VoIP users, headphones so that you can rock out quietly away from your PC, printers that are all the way over there, from your camera to your computer to your printer, and your iPhone also gets in on the action as well as all sorts of other Bluetoothy things.

It seems like a handy device to me especially if you're lazy or have a pathological fear of being near your computer. The Drone is now available for $49.45.

Tilt and Roll

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:10:17 -0800

Adjust the platform so that your marble rolls to the hole in Tilt and Roll, a challenging online game of hand-eye coordination. Mouse over the platform to tilt it up or down. Roll the ball so that it touches the glowing power-ups in order to earn extra points. Avoid the red enemy balls. Beat the top times in each of 20 levels for a gold, silver, or bronze award!

Midnight Race

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:11:40 -0800

Your pedal's to the metal in this full-tilt Midnight Race through darkened city streets. Use arrow keys to steer your hotrod. Swerve around slowpokes to get ahead. Check out the adrenaline-pumping techno on your stereo. And brakes? Who needs 'em? You'll slow down when you crash.

GemCraft

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:11:17 -0800

Deep in the Eastern mountains, an evil wizard has summoned hordes of monsters to wreak havoc on your land. Stop their advance using the power of GemCraft in this online tower defense game. Create and combine gems and position them in towers to defeat the enemy. Use your winnings to buy new gems or upgrade your existing gems. Earn new skills and weapons as you work your way east. Then, defeat the evil wizard in an epic battle of GemCraft.

Tom Bihn's TSA Approved Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:10:38 -0800

Not many people know that the TSA now approves of 3 types of bags for carrying and showing your laptop at the airport that you don't actually have to take it out. The Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase made by Tom Bihn just might be the best one.

It's a stylish 3 sectioned bag, of which one is a very special compartment for your laptop. The Checkpoint Flyer's laptop case is made of high-density thermo-molded foam and offers better protection from every angle than a regular padded sleeve. The case easily folds out from under the top flap to go through the x-ray at the airport, and just as easily folds back in. It's also removable and comes in 4 sizes to fit all Mac and most other laptops. The rest of the bag is U.S. made 1050 denier ballistic nylon, Japanese Dyneema rip-stop fabric, YKK splash-proof zippers, and Poron foam-padded handles.

The bag has more than 10 pockets, each with an O ring to clip on one of Tom Bihn's many organizational pouches, splash proof zippers and comes in 3 different color combinations. It is indeed the perfect carry-on/overnight bag.

The Checkpoint Flyer is available online for $220 which includes the optional sized laptop case.

SanDisk's Sansa slotMusic Portable Player

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:10:44 -0800

SanDisk has recently unveiled the Sansa slotMusic Player, which is specifically designed to only play slotMusic cards; preloaded microSD cards. It's pretty much a high tech cd player in an iPod world.

This palm sized player has no other function but to play these little music cards for you, which you would have to carry around with you if you wanted to listen to a different artist than the one in your player. And these things are tiny. A good thing about the slotMusic cards though, is that they're each 1 GB and you can slip it into your computer and either fill up the empty space or reformat the entire thing to have whatever music you want on it. (Hey, you can bring back the "mixed tape" tradition!) You can play the cards on your computer, phone or any device that has a microSD slot on it. Or you could buy the USB adapter and do things that way. Or you can buy a real mp3 player and download a gazillion songs on it and be done.

So how many albums can you choose from anyway? Not many. So far there are only 35 artists. But to make things more interesting for you, Sansa offers 5 unique players with pictures of artists like ABBA on them. ABBA? Now, I'm not that up to speed on the newest and most popular singers out there, but I'm pretty sure that ABBA is only popular these days with people my parents age.

At least it's cheap. The regular black slotMusic player is only $19.99, or you can get a special player with Akon on it for $34.99. And each slotMusic card is $14.99.

Smiley Puzzle: Girl Edition

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:10:34 -0800

Here's one online game that's all smiles. In Smiley Puzzle Girl Edition, you must slide the cute girl smileys to match 3 or more of the same color. Use the mouse to slide rows or columns. Release your mouse when a group of smileys lights up. Make combos, earn bonuses, break locks, but be sure to fill up the big smiley within the time limit. Play Challenge or Extreme mode to increase your game, or in Relaxed mode for untimed smiley fun.

Ecosol Powerstick V2 Portable USB Charger

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:11:30 -0800

Ecosol Solar Technologies Inc., the leader in intelligent energy storage and solutions, has unveiled the greenest charging solution, the Powerstick V2.

One Powerstick charges all of your mobile devices, from your cell phone to your iPod, thus eliminating the need for more than one charger. And unlike wall chargers, the Powerstick won't consume what it doesn't need no matter how long you leave it plugged in. It is the first intelligent charger, neither taking nor giving more power than needed. The automatic sleep mode feature saves energy when it is not in use.

The Powerstick connects to any USB port in the world and it charges to 90% full power in 90 minutes or less. Then simply toss the gum stick sized charger in your pocket or purse and go forth in your day, confident that your devices will have power when you need them.

The Powerstick V2 comes with nine free adaptors is now available online and in stores for $59.99.

120 GB Zune "Gears of War 2" Special Edition

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:11:29 -0800

To celebrate the sequel to one of the best selling Xbox franchises, Microsoft has released the Zune "Gears of War 2" Special Edition.

With a 120 GB capacity loaded with a huge assortment of Gears of War media (artwork and photos, the original game soundtrack, behind-the-scenes videos, game trailers, concept art galleries, and more), and the Crimson Omen emblazoned on the back, this special edition Zune is the perfect way for Gears of War fans to show their loyalty to Delta Squad.

Inside the collectible Gears of War packaging:

- Gears of War 2 Special Edition Zune 120
- Headphones
- Zune Sync Cable
- Three pairs of foam earpiece covers

The Zune "Gears of War 2" Special Edition is available now for $279.99.

Geo

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:10:53 -0800

Drag and drop the geometric buttons into the proper locations as quickly as you can in Geo. Click and hold a button to place it on the board. Earn 100 points for each button you place correctly. Lose 5 points for each second elapsed before you finish the puzzle. Pay attention to color and location patterns. You'll need sharp eyes and careful wits to place the buttons correctly when you play Geo online.

Before you buy a netbook or umpc...

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:10:13 -0800

Read the free UMPC Buyer's Guide 2008!

UMPCPortal.com was kind enough to compile a great PDF covering many of the common questions people have about buying small form-factor computers. Everything from the differences in mobile processors to what the various features are at different device sizes, to how battery life has evolved in the last several years is all covered here. It won't tell you which specific model to buy, but the UMPC Buyer's Guide 2008 will help you navigate all the jargon packed into the small form factor space. I'm still looking for the perfect solution that combines a sub-10-inch screen with a minimum of 1280x720 resolution, 12 hours of battery life, 100 GB of solid state hard disk space, and a multi-touch display, all for under $500. I know I'm dreaming for now, but it can't be far off. Additional details available

T-Fitness Packs for the WiiFit Balance Boards

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:11:20 -0800

Thrustmaster, maker of fine gaming accessories, has released two hot new accessory packs for the Nintindo WiiFit Balance Board. The T-Fitness Pack NW offers 7 great things to enhance your workout while the T-Fitness Pack Pro NW offers 9.

Both include:
-Trendy fitness bag that is great for storing and protecting your Balance Board, 1 game and all your accessories.
-Cleaning cloth to wipe the sweat away
-A rechargeable battery
-Shoulder strap for your mp3 player
-USB recharging cable

The T-Fitness Pack NW ($29.99) adds 2 sweat bands for your wrists while the T-Fitness Pack Pro NW ($49.99) has a comfortable floor mat, 2 wrist or ankle weights, and a matching anti-perspiration headband.

The T-Fitness Packs have come out just in time to offer a great work out solution for the busy and often fattening holidays.

mophie juice pack 3G iPhone Extended Battery Case

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:10:17 -0800

The iPhone 3G just got juicier. The new mophie juice pack 3G is a sexy little multi-tasker that will never leave you without power. The fact that it doubles the battery life of the iPhone 3G is enough to get excited about, but that's not all the juice pack has to offer. It's also a sleek case that has a pass-through USB, allowing you to charge and sync with iTunes without having to remove the phone from the juice pack 3G. The juice pack will always drain first, leaving you with a fully charged phone when the juice pack runs out. That's up to 12 more hours of talk time, or 28 more hours of rocking out to your favorite tunes! Can your Hi-C do that?

The mophie juice pack 3G is available now online and in stores at an MSRP of $99.95.

Bunny Defence Force

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:10:38 -0800

Easter is under attack! As leader of the Bunny Defense Force, you must board the bunny transport train and defend its fluffy cargo from the hostile aliens. Aim your gun using the mouse and click to shoot. Hit aliens before they vaporize your bunnies. Increase your firepower by targeting the floating power-ups. Be careful not to shoot too quickly, or your gun will overheat! Lead the Bunny Defense Force to victory and ensure that no one goes eggless this year.

Android isn’t perfect, here’s what could be better

Jake — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:10:39 -0800

Every phone I’ve ever owned has features I don’t like. The T-Mobile G1 running Android is no exception. Most of my current gripes are things inherent to Google’s mobile implementation of Gmail and contact functionality. Here are a handful of things I don’t like and how I think they could be better.

Gmail and Google Calendar integration are top notch, however, I found some quirks in using Outlook and Google Apps together, but I did find a workaround. My biggest gripe about Gmail on Android is you can’t quote text from an email you reply to, the entire previous message is retained. There are few times when I need to keep an entire message intact when making a response and this makes interspersing comments in an email impossible. Hopefully Google will fix this.

JakeLudington.com mail is now hosted using Google Accounts. So far mail hosting is rock solid and the calendar integration is almost perfect. Attempting to sign in to Google Docs for Google Accounts has been a series of frustrations. I can sign in using a standard Google ID, but using my jakeludington.com account gives me a bunch of error messages related to the way Google does the accounts. Not sure if this is by design or something Google needs to fix, but either way it’s frustrating.

Contact info forwarding is a fail. There’s currently no built-in solution to attach contact info from one of my contacts to a Gmail message from Android. In fact, the only thing I can attach seems to be photos. Great if I want to send photos, not so great for times when I want one person I know to call another person I know.

The Android Market desperately needs some additional apps (like Urban Spoon) and the Twitter clients fall short of what’s available for iPhone. Twidroid isn’t bad, but you can’t filter by @ replies and you have to launch a browser window to view tweets from an individual account. The alternative, Twitli, is a joke. There are some great apps, like one that uses the GPS to track mileage automatically for those that track driving for tax purposes. I’m just hoping we see more ports of iPhone apps as the market grows.

If you’re a G1 user what other quirks have you found? Or do you have workarounds for my current gripes? Either way, I’d love to hear them.

Nebulae

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:11:05 -0800

Revisit the origins of the universe! Venture deep into a Nebulae and grow your own constellation by collecting energy and dodging debris in this colorful online game. Your stars are constantly losing energy. Steer them toward the energy pickups with your mouse to keep them glowing and growing. Avoid space debris or destroy it by hitting it with the lines between your stars. Enjoy the colorful explosions and see if you can create a big bang when you play Nebulae online!

Frenziac

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:11:14 -0800

Blobs to the left of you. Blobs to the right of you. It`s a frenzied blob attack in Frenziac, a fast-paced and fun arcade game! Collect enough green pickups to open the warp portal and escape to the next level. Avoid hitting enemy blobs that sap your health. Collect bonus pickups to restore your health or earn extra points. Master 3 difficulty levels. Play Frenziac online now and see if you can defeat the attack.

After Glow

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:11:31 -0800

Are you a talented space pilot? Then your skills are needed at the helm of the After Glow. Only a top-notch pilot can guide the ship through the complex space mazes and pick up the special power orbs. Use the arrow keys or W, A, S, and D keys to move the ship as quickly as you can. The lower your time, the better your score. Lose points if you hit a wall, and lose your ship if you hit an electrical charge or a gravity well. Pass through 5 levels. Can you become the champion pilot of the After Glow?

4 Elements

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:10:44 -0800

Beyond endless seas, an ancient fairytale kingdom is in trouble. A land once full of life has become a lifeless desert. Restore power to four magic books so that peace and prosperity may return. An adorable fairy will aid you in this perilous journey as you encounter dragons, knights, and various creatures. Collect 16 mysterious cards while encountering explosive bonuses. Can you turn the tides and restore the 4 Elements in this enchanting Puzzle game?

Hosting images with Amazon S3

Jake — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:11:13 -0800

I switched almost all image hosting on JakeLudington.com to Amazon S3 this week. If you’re a regular visitor here, this should be completely transparent. The site gets enough traffic that hosting images on a separate server makes a difference in page load times, which is why I had a separate image server previously. I’m trying to eliminate extra headaches from my life, which is why I’m moving to S3 for hosting. Amazon gets the headache of keeping the servers up and running, I get the convenience of a high availability hosting solution that costs next to nothing. There server I used to host images on was approximately $300/month. Based on data for the first few days of hosting images on Amazon, it looks like the new cost will be less than $5.00/month. Certainly not the same scale of savings reported by SmugMug, but I don’t have their traffic either.

My two biggest criteria for making a move to a different hosting solution are reliability and not having to re-map URLs on any of my existing posts. Aside from an S3 outage earilier in 2008, I’m confident Amazon is at least as reliable as any hosting I’ve used in the past. Amazon makes the URL mapping easy, supporting CNAME forwarding at the DNS level. Most images are hosted at the images.jakeludington.com subdomain. I simply created a bucket in S3 named images.jakeludington.com and then updated DNS to point to s3.amazonaws.com as a CNAME record. So as DNS updated across the Web, it was as if nothing ever moved. I realize that’s how things are supposed to work with server moves, but nothing is ever typical for me.

The one thing I still need to find is the perfect desktop client for uploading stuff to S3. I’ve tried both the browser-based S3Fox plugin for Firefox and Bucket Explorer, but neither does the one thing I want - easily inherit permissions of the current folder. If anybody knows of a S3 desktop client for Windows that handles permission inheritance, let me know. Bonus if there’s a Android Market app that acts as an S3 client!

Setting up a Google Account in Outlook

Jake — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:10:59 -0800

I recently switched my email hosting over to a paid Google Account. I toyed with doing this some time ago, but getting a T-Mobile G1 pushed me over the top because it allows me to integrate all my calendar, contacts, and email into something that works seamlessly with Android. I’m not ready to give up Outlook on my desktop just yet, so I also need the pop3 functionality of Gmail integrated into Outlook, along with Contacts and Calendar on my desktop. Google mostly covers the setup process for Outlook in their Configuring other mail clients article, but there are a couple of quirks.

In addition to the basics:
Incoming Mail Server: pop.gmail.com
Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.gmail.com
Account Name: yourname@your_domain.com
Email Address: yourname@your_domain.com
Password: The password you used when you created your Google Accounts email account for your domain.

You also need to click More Settings, followed by the Advanced tab to make the following configuration changes:

Incoming server port: 995
Check box for SSL

Outgoing server port: 465
Use the following type of encrypted connection: SSL

Without properly configuring that last setting you can’t send email from Outlook.

Diamond Fever

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:10:54 -0800

Venture back to the golden era of treasure hunting with Diamond Fever. Click groups of 3 or more like-colored gems in this online puzzle game. Work quickly; you must clear the mine before it fills with gems and collapses. Click on dynamite when it appears to explode multiple gems. Go, restless diamond finder. Start filling your sack with treasure and catch Diamond Fever now!

How to Delete All Contacts from T-Mobile G1

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:10:48 -0800

As I fumbled with moving the hundreds of Contacts in my Outlook to my new Android phone, I discovered there's no easy way to delete all contacts directly from the phone. From the T-mobile G1 interface, you have to manually select each contact and delete them individually, which takes a long time. The alternative, which can be a little scary, is to delete all the contacts from Gmail and wait for the phone to re-sync. If you no longer have any contacts in Gmail, you'll also no longer have any contacts on your phone. So the solution to deleting all the contacts on your G1 is to sign in to Gmail on your PC, go to the contacts page, select all contacts and delete them.

How to Sync Outlook with T-Mobile G1 Android Phone Automatically

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:10:11 -0800

"How can I sync my T-Mobile G1 Google Android phone with my Outlook contacts and calendar automatically?"

Knowing that Google provides a great free solution for syncing Outlook with Google Calendar automatically, I was extremely hopeful they had finally offered a solid solution for managing contacts between Outlook and Gmail. So far, Google's only automatic solution involves syncing Outlook with iTunes, which is great if you have an iPhone, but kind of silly for an Android phone. After trying several of the free solutions, including GCalDaemon, which acts as a local server for your contacts, I concluded I'd rather pay for the reliability of an app I'd recommended in the past, CompanionLink.

Ball Challenge

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:10:28 -0800

Keep your eye on the balls! In the Ball Challenge, you must click the indicated balls when they move past in pairs on the conveyor belts. Each level adds a new kind of ball to watch for. Click on special power-ups and earn bonus points. You'll need fast clicking skills and sharp eyes to find all the balls as they move past. Are you up to the Ball Challenge?

How to Fix Ion Turntable Problems Recording with Windows Vista

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:11:35 -0800

"I love my Ion USB turntable, but I only get one track of audio. What am I doing wrong that it only records one channel? It has never worked properly so I have converted many LPs with only one track of stereo working. I have Windows Vista. Please help!"

Windows Vista detects USB audio devices differently than Windows XP, which means Vista improperly detects the Ion USB Turntable as a mono device instead of stereo. To fix the problem, you need to make an adjustment in the Windows Vista Control Panel.

Fat Buster Doctor

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:10:43 -0800

Finally, a miracle cure for fat that really works! You are a Fat Buster Doctor and you have a high-tech anti-fat scanner that generates fat-busting codes in this online memory game. Scan your clients to find out how they broke their diets. Watch for the code. Then, punch the code into the machine exactly as it appeared. No mistakes, or your clients will gain fat. Level up to more complex fat-busting and become the top Fat Buster Doc!

Gemstone Hunter

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:11:41 -0800

Collect floating gems and help Gemstone Hunter grow his tail in this peaceful arcade game. Enjoy the relaxing sounds as you pick up each brightly colored gem. Collect streams of the same color and then hit the glowing energy ball with your tail. Like-colored gems will explode and create a chain reaction. Avoid the spiny urchins. They will sap your strength. With its gentle feel and easy-to-learn game play, Gemstone Hunter will keep you on the hunt for days.

Deep Sea Explorer

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:12:04 -0700

Strap on your scuba mask and become a Deep Sea Explorer! Swim through the ocean depths and collect seaweed in this fishy online arcade game. Use your mouse to move your diver. Watch out for hostile sea creatures, including sharks, noxious seaweeds, and electric eels. Collect 5 power-ups that will help you in your seaweed quest. Looking for an underwater adventure? Dive into Deep Sea Explorer now.

Do you care if your gadgets are green?

Jake — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:11:18 -0700

I can recall a time about 16 years ago when I threw a CRT monitor in a dumpster because it didn’t work. It was one of those old monochromatic amber displays. Today I know that’s a environmental hazard because the monitor probably contained mercury and who knows what other harmful things, but at the time when something didn’t work the obvious thing to do was throw it in the trash. I certainly won’t do it again. More recently I’ve taken some old electronics to PC recycling centers in hopes my old electronics will be disposed of in a responsible manner. I bring this up because computer and gadget manufacturers are trying to get more environmentally conscious. The question is do we care?

Sony has used PVC-free cables in their laptops since 2007. In June 2008, HP announced plans to phase out mercury in its entire notebook line by 2010. Dell made a similar announcement in September 2008. Apple seemingly beat all the PC makers to the punch by announcing plans to eliminate PVC and brominated flame retardants from their product line by the end of 2008, along with a full product line of MacBook and iPod products with mercury free displays.

I’m certainly more likely to buy organic vegetables when I can, because I’d rather not ingest toxins. I hadn’t really thought about the potential toxins in my computer equipment until all the manufacturers started touting how green they intend to be. If I was presented with two identical computers from a technical standpoint, one made from more environmentally safe materials, I’d definitely choose the environmentally safe notebook. On the other hand, if I were forced to choose a more expensive product or an inferior product in order to be more environmentally responsible, I’m not convinced I’m ready to make that sacrifice.

To borrow from some over-used political grandstanding, am I mortgaging the environment of our children’s future by not buying green electronics? Or should environmental responsibility only be one component of the computer buying decision, especially if the net result is paying more or getting lower performance for the same money.

What do you think? Does it matter to you if your gadgets are green?

Providence

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:10:47 -0700

Security has been breached, and it's up to you and Providence to save the day. Step behind the controls of the ultimate mech unit in this awesome 3D game and fly into death-defying combat. Use your mouse to move Providence and your mouse button to fire. Press Z to change your weapon. Follow an intense storyline told via 3D graphics. Can you beat all 5 difficult levels of Providence?