Elephant Quest is an addictive, deep platformer

elephantquest
When someone tells me about a "platformer", my first thought is that it's probably a simple game that mainly revolves around running and jumping around, with a minimal plot. [Play a Zelda game! -Ed]

Elephant Quest is one platformer that managed to prove me completely wrong. Yes, you do run and jump around, and you also shoot at stuff. But the game has much, much more going for it.

Basically, as you run, jump and shoot, you gain experience points and level up. Hitting Space brings you into an interface where you can convert your experience points into Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Dexterity points. Once you've "specialized" your points, you then get to pick what exact skills you'd like to enhance in each field. For example, you could use your dexterity to enhance your weapons or increase your swiftness.

The game is played in a huge maze; you go through rooms using doors, and there's a large map. As the name implies, there are quests you can take, too. For example, one quest had me searching all over the place for ten balloons.

The bottom line is that this is a surprisingly deep game that just might ensnare you for a good bit longer than you intended to play. Beware!

Elephant Quest is an addictive, deep platformer originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/25/elephant-quest-is-an-addictive-deep-platformer/

Karla Reusch Wilhelm Klassen Nathalie Füllgraf Janine Harrer

Figuring Out Your Carbon Footprint's Shoe Size

It's not easy going green. There are, however, software programs and online assessment tools that can measure a business's carbon footprint and help make it smaller. Every technology in business uses energy and has a carbon footprint -- from the lights in the ceiling to the data center they illuminate. "Green IT can mean anything from energy-efficient products to easily recycled products," said John Pflueger, principal environmental strategist at Dell.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/72343.html

Elsa Alexander Furtmann Siegrid Holstein Michael Vollmar Robin Jones

Grass-Fed Beef Is the New Performance Enhancing Drug for Athletes [Food]

Organic! Local! Grass-fed! Fanned with palm fronds! All those terms used to describe food usually mean diddly squat to me because I'm a simpleton eater. If it tastes good, it is good. But athletes—people who need to care about their body—are starting to get into eating grass-fed beef craze because of the health benefits. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/yERxu9pw5UE/grass+fed-beef-is-the-new-performance-enhancing-drug-for-athletes

Anna-Lena Baumgärtel Sabine Kinzler Frieda Falkner Hans-Joachim Kammann

Hello Expense is a simple, reliable expense tracker for Android

helloexpense
A good mobile application is a fine balance between simplicity and functionality. You're using it on the go, so you don't have a lot of time to sit there and fumble with the phone to figure it all out. But you also need it to be powerful enough to let you do whatever it is you're trying to get done.

Hello Expense is one mobile app that gets it right. It's an expense tracker that lets you use your Android-powered phone to quickly log the money you spend and then analyze it and see where it all went.

I recently had the chance to use it in a real-life situation - a road trip that took a few days and involved quite a few expenses. Logging each expense took seconds, and at the end of each day I could get a great overview of how much money I spent on each category so far.

Categories and tags are user-configurable; the app also sports its own number pad to make number entry easy, regardless of what keyboard you're using.

Hello Expense is a simple, reliable expense tracker for Android originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/29/hello-expense-is-a-simple-reliable-expense-tracker-for-android/

Svenja Hoferichter Carola Auer Luca Liebe Finja Kerkhoff

Sidekick 4G review

It's been nearly two years since we last reviewed a T-Mobile Sidekick, and it would be a vast understatement to say things have changed. Then, they were designed by Danger and manufactured by Sharp, and were the messaging phone of choice. Today, following fiasco and failure, the Sidekick empire is in ruins. But good ideas and their originators live on, and several of Danger's brightest wound up in Mountain View, California. Danger's Andy Rubin founded Android, design director Mattias Duarte built Honeycomb (after helping craft the Helio Ocean and webOS for Palm) and now, the Sidekick itself has joined its founders in the house that Google built. In many ways, the Sidekick 4G is a return to form, but in an ecosystem filled with similar Android devices, can it stand out from the crowd?

Continue reading Sidekick 4G review

Sidekick 4G review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/29/sidekick-4g-review/

Jörn Domenighini Marion Dallmeyer Hanna Wohlrab Henrik Brenner

Sony's Bloggie 3D Arrives, Ready For 3D Home Movies [Video]

The Bloggie 3D that Sony unveiled way back in CES is finally here, and it still looks great. The camcorder shoots video at 1080p and takes stills at 5 megapixels, all in glasses-less 3D and for about $250. [Ubergizmo] More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/VOCZEnuL_8U/sonys-bloggie-3d-arrives-ready-for-3d-home-movies

Henrik Brenner Karla Reusch Wilhelm Klassen Nathalie Füllgraf

FCC opens floor for public comment on AT&T / T-Mobile deal

Since the world's engineers haven't yet come up with a way to read minds over the internet (or at all, last we checked), we're not sure what you think about the proposed marriage of T-Mobile to AT&T. We're pretty sure you do have an opinion of some sort, though, and if you want it to be heard, now's the opportunity to let the Federal Communications Commission read your thoughtful, reasoned take on how a GSM monopoly in the United States might or might not work. (Speak now or forever hold your peace, in other words.) To comment, simply visit the source links below, where the FCC has some handy forms -- one for short comments, one for long comments (where you have to attach a PDF document) and one with the magic number of the related proceeding, which is 11-65. Let 'em know just how you'll be impacted if the deal goes through, for better or for worse.

[Thanks, Jeff]

FCC opens floor for public comment on AT&T / T-Mobile deal originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/_uk9fz4HRiY/

Antonio Fellberg Emma Knebel Jason Randow Benjamin Schötz

New software uses facial recognition to defend against prying eyes

Having the right programs and hardware to keep the information on your display safe from prying eyes is never a bad idea, and new software from Oculis Labs offers a very interesting take on how to do just that. It's called PrivateEye, and it utilizes facial recognition to automatically pixelate the contents of your display when you look away.

If you step away from your system and someone else decides to sit down and poke around, PrivateEye will present a confusing jumble of garbled text. It'll even notify you if someone tries to peek over your shoulder -- and display a picture of your peeping Tom, throw up an alert, or sound an alarm.

Check out the video embed after the break, and share your thoughts in the comments!

Continue reading New software uses facial recognition to defend against prying eyes

New software uses facial recognition to defend against prying eyes originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/new-software-uses-facial-recognition-to-defend-against-prying-ey/

Emilia Münchow Claus Rehberg Tobias Leinenbach Olga Kreibich

Intel's Cedar Trail gets some specs, combines CPU and GPU on a single chip

Intel Atom Lineup
That new processor smell has barely started to fade from Oak Trail and we're already getting some tantalizing details about the next generation of Atom chips -- Cedar Trail. As expected, Intel has moved to 32nm, which allows it to cram the GPU and the CPU onto the same sliver of silicon. The first two models, the D2500 and D2700, will be dual-core, sport 1MB of L2 cache, and have a miserly TDP of 10w -- 3w lower than current dual-core Atoms. The former will be clocked at 1.86GHz with Hyper-Threading turned off, while the D2700 flips the switch on those two extra threads and kicks it up a notch to 2.13GHz. The new integrated graphics will boast better HD decoding and support for Blu-ray playback which, when combined with the taunts of fanless designs and WiDi, make Cedar Trail a natural fit for the living room.

Intel's Cedar Trail gets some specs, combines CPU and GPU on a single chip originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/23T37ILosRg/

Alexander Berner Oliver Büdenbender Christa Eymann Ingrid Schur