Filed under: Video Games, Web

Our favorite online games are the simple ones with a high-replay value (e.g., ‘Canabalt‘). It doesn’t hurt if they’re free, either. The latest title to drag down our productivity is a 2-D side-scroller called ‘Solipskier’ that asks gamers to guide a stick-figure skier down the slopes — while drawing those said slopes. Like we said, it isn’t a complex game, with the simple objective to navigate your skier through green gates while doing tricks and not falling to your death. That gameplay alone would get boring (Ed. Note: Um, remember ‘SkiFree‘?), so ‘Solipskier’ also asks you to draw the game’s landscape by clicking and dragging your mouse across the screen. If you stop, the ground will disappear and the stick-figure skier will tumble to his death.

We’re still learning the physics behind drawing a smooth slope, so we won’t share our shamefully low high score yet. But we can say we’ll be staying late after work tonight to improve it. [From: Indie Games and Solipskier, via: Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

‘Solipskier’ Is a 2-D Timewaster That Combines Skiing and Drawing originally appeared on Switched on Sun, 15 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Video Games, Google, Web

Here’s a cute little timewaster for Gmail fans: ‘Galactic Inbox.’ The premise is simple: You control a mighty winged Gmail envelope tasked with disposing an onslaught of baddies, including cans of what we presume are a major brand of luncheon meat. You blast your way until you meet the boss, a birdcage with spiked balls for arms holding other Gmail envelopes hostage. Your goal, obviously, is to destroy this message-hoarding meanie and free your little brother and sister envelopes. Impressively, the whole thing is coded in HTML5. For the best experience, it’s highly recommended that you use either Google Chrome or the Firefox 4 beta, otherwise playing might be more like watching a slide show. [From: Gmail Blog and Monocubed]

Gmail Saves the Universe in ‘Galactic Inbox’ originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Computers

Not too long ago, 22-year-old Sealtiel Chacon Zepeda, from Beaverton, Oregon, began cooking up a scheme to copy gift cards from local stores. He knew he couldn’t just swipe the cards and run, since they would need to be activated by a cashier before he could use them. So, he decided to clone them instead — at the direct expense of consumers.

After performing 20 hours of online research, Zepeda purchased an electronic card reader, stole a handful of cards from his local Fred Meyer store, and scanned them with his reader. He then discretely returned the cards, and waited until a special computer program detected that another customer had bought one of his cards. With the help of a magnetic card writer, the scam artist would then rewrite the magnetic strip information on another leftover stolen card, supplying it with the data from the card that someone else had purchased. With his newly cloned card, Zepeda would purchase items for personal use, for re-sale, or, in the event that he needed some cash, for immediate store returns.

Continue reading Oregon Man Clones Gift Cards, Steals $6,000 Worth of Merchandise

Oregon Man Clones Gift Cards, Steals $6,000 Worth of Merchandise originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Computers, Back to School

We’ve never carried them, but we sometimes wish that we had pocketwatches. You know, with a gold chain arched over the middle button of a sharp looking vest (which we’ve also never owned). It’s a strange sentiment, particularly since most of us don’t even wear wristwatches. (There’s a clock on that cell phone for a reason.) A slightly less intense, but altogether similar sentiment cropped up when we first looked upon images of Aaron Adding Machines. These handsome calculators are custom made by a guy (or, should we say ‘chap’?) named Andy Aaron, and we have to admit that those switches, push-buttons, dials and keys make for the best looking computers we’ve ever seen. Of course, they’re also expensive, and — let’s face it — not that functional. (Google can do more, and more quickly, for free.)

When we make our millions, though, you can rest assured that we’ll get a few. Yes, we’ll ride in the back of our horse-drawn buggies, tipping our hats to the ladies strolling past, calculating how to spend our fortunes with our adding machines and impatiently checking our pocketwatches — tired of waiting for that blasted telegram from the whippersnapper we pay to check our e-mail. [From: Aaron Adding Machines, via: Kottke]

Andy Aaron’s Handmade, Victorian-Style Calculators Deserve a Tip of Our Hats originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Video Games

Just a few dozen miles north of the Switched headquarters, in Beacon, New York, lies the Retro Arcade Museum, a storefront on the corner of Main and Schenk Streets loaded with the sorts of vintage arcade goodies that would make even the most steel-willed nerd weep. But an archaic law, one that is more widespread than you might believe, has caused the life’s work of Fred Bobrow to be shut down, at least temporarily. It turns out that Beacon still has legislation, dating to the 1940s, that bans pinball machines within the city limits. Beacon wasn’t alone in outlawing machines during the era, as most major cities in the U.S., including New York, forbade the machines as well.

The closing of the Retro Arcade Museum has inspired a backlash, including a Facebook page calling for its reopening. The mayor, Steve Gold, has responded to the media attention (as evidenced in the CNN report below), explaining that the shuttering of the museum was based on noise complaints from the building’s other tenants. Gold said he worked closely with Bobrow, but that it was a serious challenge to satisfy the needs of the surrounding businesses and residents and to rewrite the ordinance that led to the closing of the business.

Continue reading Retro Arcade Museum Shut Down Over Arcane Anti-Pinball Law

Retro Arcade Museum Shut Down Over Arcane Anti-Pinball Law originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Computers

Strolling around with your wheelchair-bound loved ones might one day be a whole lot less stressful, thanks to a new robotic wheelchair created in Japan. Designed by researchers at Saitama University‘s Human-Robot Interaction Center, the wheelchair uses distance sensors and built-in cameras to keep track of a pedestrian’s position, allowing the chair to remain on the left-hand side of its targeted companion at all times. As Crunch Gear elaborates, the sensor system is also designed to pick up on the movements of a companion’s shoulders, which enables the chair to predict the direction in which the walker might move.

In the event that a person leads the wheelchair down a narrow hallway, or through similarly treacherous terrain, the sensors will detect any obstacles and navigate the chair accordingly. If, for example, other people are walking toward the couple in a tight space, the chair will automatically follow its companion in single-file. And, because several robo-chairs are capable of following the same person, Saitama’s researchers are hopeful that their brainchild will allow elderly care workers to more efficiently move their patients, and to interact with them more fluidly while doing so. To see the chair in action, check out the video after the break. [From: CrunchGear, via: PopSci]

Continue reading Japanese Robotic Wheelchair Automatically Follows You Around

Japanese Robotic Wheelchair Automatically Follows You Around originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Computers

It appears that color E Ink readers aren’t as far from being commercially available as most have thought. E Ink Holdings (formally PVI), the group responsible for the screens housed in Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Readers, is leading the way by offering samples of its color panels to manufacturers. In addition to creating color-capable displays, the new screens are capacitive, meaning all their touch-based interactions will be drastically improved. While Amazon may not want any part of this now, as it waits for a more established and tested technology to emerge before releasing a multicolored Kindle, China-based Hanvon has already taken the bait, promising to release color E Ink readers by the end of the year. Who knows, maybe in a couple of months they’ll be kicking things off with a smashed ice sculpture of Amazon’s logo, hailing death to the drably colored Kindle. [From: Engadget]

E Ink Begins to Sample Capacitive, Color E-Readers originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Cell Phones, Computers

We’ve all lost a high-tech gadget or two to that most low-tech of the natural elements: water. (Or, in the recent case of this writer’s laptop, coffee.) Always miles ahead of us stateside folk, who have alternately used hair dryers and bowls of quick rice to dry out our devices, the Japanese have implemented the Dryer Box, a sort of clothes dryer for drowned gadgets.

The copy-machine-sized boxes have found homes in several of Tokyo’s Yodobashi Camera retail outlets, and promise that, if they don’t resurrect, they don’t collect. If your phone is among the lucky ones (which will have to do with whether or not the electronics have shorted), you’ll owe 1,000 yen (around $12). And that, dear readers, is a small price to pay when you can avoid telling your friends that you totally forgot your phone was in your pocket when you jumped in the lake. [From: Dryer Box and Wired]

Japan Introduces Gadget Dryer For Soggy Phones, Clumsy Bloggers Rejoice originally appeared on Switched on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 07:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Computers

The appeal of paintball is lost on us, but that doesn’t mean we don’t recognize a cool robotic paintball turret when we see one. Thanks to Ubergizmo, we found this particular one, a DIY project by some nerdy paintball enthusiasts at Alter Robotics. It’s a pan-and-tilt, robotic tripod turret, equipped with an electronic paintball gun (that looks infinitely cooler than the one we got from Walmart for our 13th birthday). The user aims and fires off rounds via a handheld controller, but, according to Alter Robotics’ YouTube channel, the guys are working on developing an autonomous firing and tracking system for the robot, as well. In the video after the break, you’ll see the turret blast holes in cardboard boxes with crudely drawn targets on them. Cool or not, though, getting pelted with paintballs still doesn’t look like a fun way to spend an afternoon. [From: Ubergizmo and YouTube]

Continue reading DIY Robotic Paintball Sentry Blasts Holes in Cardboard Boxes

DIY Robotic Paintball Sentry Blasts Holes in Cardboard Boxes originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Video Games, Columns

The fantasy genre has always held particular sway over various corners of geek culture. (In fact, some might say that J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy gave birth to what we consider fandom today.) Ancient lands populated by fearsome beasts, wizards, warriors and mystical objects have provided fertile landscapes of escapism for countless books, movies, and, of course, video games. Fantasy has set the stage for some of the most popular gaming franchises around today, from the ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ inspired origins of ‘Final Fantasy’ and ‘Dragon Quest,’ to the orcs and elves of ‘World of Warcraft‘ and the ‘Elder Scrolls‘ series. Today, we’ll delve into dank dungeons, climb gargantuan beasts, and slay countless enemy hordes in a quest to quench our thirst for fantasy gaming.

Continue reading Games on the Go: Final Fantasies for Flash

Games on the Go: Final Fantasies for Flash originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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