Tech Blog

Who doesn’t like flying paper planes? I know I do, but I can never make them quite right – they never fly for more than a few seconds. Flight has just given me another chance to fulfill my lifelong dream of flying a paper plane all the way to London, England!

The background story is not the best – a lonely girl is sending a note to Santa to bring her mommy home for Christmas (not sure why Santa would be in London) – but the game itself is super-fun.

You need to fly your paper airplane as far as it would go, and collect as many stars as you can along the way. The stars, the distance you travel and some other parameters like velocity and altitude help you accumulate money. With this money you can buy cool upgrades for your plane that will help you get it to London that much faster.

The graphics for this game are pretty impressive, but you might want to engage that mute button before you really get into it – the music is rather annoying.

All in all it’s a fun little game. There are just two things I still couldn’t figure out: What does the pink origami swan do? And what happens when you get to London? Tell us in the comments if you made it!

Flight challenges you to fly a paper airplane to London originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EMC FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SVCS FISERV GOOGLE GRUPO IUSACELL

Despite all the technological advances made over the years, pilots are still frequently relying on paper maps when it comes to navigation. That’s about to change though. More »

INFOCUS ZORAN ZIONS BAN YAHOO YAHOO

Surely by now you’ve heard of the problems people have been having with their Gmail accounts. E-mails have been deleted, accounts have been disabled, and while Google has been hard at work trying to make everything right, it’s just another example of why moving your entire life to the cloud may not always be the best idea.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CK1dcdEibjg/

CDW CHINA MOBILE CISCO SYSTEMS COGNIZANT TECH SOLUTIONS

When the news first broke of Gmail losing a small chuck of its users’ inboxes, I had a rather terrifying realization: For nearly 8 years, I’ve been using Gmail as my only message store — putting all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. If you use Gmail, you’re probably now thinking the same thing as me: I really should have a backup.

But where should I back up to? There are two choices: use a regular desktop email program, like Outlook or Thunderbird, or use an alternate webmail provider like Hotmail.

Continue reading How to back up Gmail to Hotmail or a desktop email program

How to back up Gmail to Hotmail or a desktop email program originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

DIODES INORATED DIEBOLD DELL CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR ACCENTURE

Regardless of what you think about the Android platform, there’s no denying that the Market experience for finding apps is pretty poor. And that’s putting it nicely. Google has evolved the experience over the years, but even with Gingerbread, it’s far from great. Today, Chomp, the app search engine, launches an experience for Android that is great. If you’ve heard of Chomp before, it was likely from their iPhone app, which focused on not only search but also personalized recommendations. But with the Chomp for Android experience, co-founder Ben Keighran decided they wanted to strip the service to its core, based on the usage patterns they’ve seen on both the iPhone and the web.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/r1tbpsEVcv8/

NETWORK APPLIANCE NETGEAR NCR NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS

As far as Tetris goes, most variations look quite similar. You’re usually looking at a “wall” of bricks directly from the front. Torus takes that notion and throws it away; as you might have guessed from the name (or screenshot), this Tetris clone is played on a ring-like 3D surface.

You rotate the ring itself with the arrow keys, while a Tetris-like piece slowly (excruciatingly slowly, in fact) descends from the top. As soon as you make a solid line, it disappears.

Not all pieces are Tetris-like; some of them wouldn’t really work with a regular Tetris game but are a good fit for Torus’ 3D format.

Torus is ideal for playing at the office, because it has absolutely no soundtrack. The game is dead-quiet. It’s also very very slow (slow enough for me to mention it twice in one post) so you can safely look away for a moment and then keep playing. Also, as soon as the game loses focus, it automatically pauses.

Bottom line: It’s an impressive demo of the power of HTML5; if it were a bit faster, it would have some serious addictive potential.

Torus is an impressive 3D Tetris game powered by HTML5 originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

MENTOR GRAPHICS IMS HEALTH IMATION IKON OFFICE SOLUTIONS IDT

Recording microphones are common place these days.  They are on our phones, iPods, mp3 players and even on pens.  But usually these microphones don?t result in the best audio quality from their built-in mono microphone.  That?s where Samson?s Zoom H1 Handy Recorder comes in. The package includes the Zoom H1 Handy Recorder with a preloaded 2GB [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/02/25/samson-zoom-h1-handy-recorder-review/

HARRIS HCL TECHNOLOGIES HEWLETTPACKARD HIGH TECH COMPUTER HON HAI PRECISION IND

Long exposure photogrpahy is plenty awesome on its own. But pair it with a staff that lights up according to how strong Wi-Fi signal is and you get something even more illuminating: a picture of what Wi-Fi networks really look like. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/lGQlQ5CAQgM/this-is-what-a-wi+fi-network-looks-like

NCR NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS MOTOROLA MOODYS

Continue reading Crocodoc launches plug-in free, embeddable document viewer

Crocodoc launches plug-in free, embeddable document viewer originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

MOBILE TELESYSTEMS NANYA TECHNOLOGY NII HOLDINGS NIKON NINTENDO

Complementing the integrated projector concept introduced at CES last month, MSI brought a new not-for-sale hottie to its CeBIT booth this week in the form of the Dual Pad, which is… well, literally two WindPads placed on top of one another. The idea is that the pads can be taken apart and used as two completely independent Windows 7 tablets when necessary — “you and your girlfriend on a trip” was the example given to us during the press conference — but when you piece them together, they become one mega-tablet capable of operating essentially as a single dual-screen netbook (a hingeless, permanently-open one). Again, it’s a pure concept; there are no plans for commercialization that we could eke out, but we can’t imagine it’d be cheap since you’d effectively be buying two complete tablets. Follow the break for video!

Continue reading MSI Dual Pad concept eyes-on (video)

MSI Dual Pad concept eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 13:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/28/msi-dual-pad-concept-eyes-on-video/

MICROS SYSTEMS MICRON TECHNOLOGY MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY METHODE ELECTRONICS MENTOR GRAPHICS

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) may be on the cusp of creating something special: Bendable batteries that could have better performance than their stiff, inflexible cousins. More »

HARRIS HCL TECHNOLOGIES HEWLETTPACKARD HIGH TECH COMPUTER HON HAI PRECISION IND

Competition is a good thing, and the browser arena has been a fierce arena for years now. There are at least four “major” browsers each vying for your attention, along with lots of smaller spin-offs (SRWare Iron or Flock, anyone?).

While the browser usage charts we share from time to time show overall browser usage amongst the Web at large, Download Squad readers are not exactly the average bunch in terms of browser use. So today we have one simple question for you:

What’s your primary Web browser?

View Poll

Ask DLS: What’s your primary Web browser? originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/16/ask-dls-whats-your-primary-browser/

FEI COMPANY FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR INTERNATIONAL FAIR ISAAC FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS F5 NETWORKS

Here are some stories from the past week on CrunchGear: Video Of Escher?s Impossible Waterfall A La Rube Goldberg Irony: Smartphones Can Save The Honeybees Mimoco?s Latest Puts Your Data On DC Comic Classics HTC Announces The Desire S, Wildfire S, and Incredible S Canjo: You Know, A Banjo Made From A Can

MAXIMUS MANTECH INTERNATIONAL MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES LSI LINEAR TECHNOLOGY

AT&T is betting big on location-based shopping alerts through a partnership with Placecast. AT&T is debuting a branded ShopAlerts service, which will deliver special offers and discounts to consumers via their mobile phones when they are near a participating store or brand (initial brands include HP, KMart, and JetBlue). The program is currently available to AT&T customers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco who have opted-in to receive Shop Alerts, but AT&T plans to roll the program out nationally by summertime and increase the number of participating brands.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/sNqy7ceWMJU/

INTUIT INTERSECTIONS INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES (IBM)

Despite losing Best Picture to The King’s Speech, Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher’s epic Facebook creation myth The Social Network did pick up three Oscars tonight, more than any film about nerds has ever garnered, unless you count A Beautiful Mind. The Social Network won Best Film Editing (Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter), Best Original Score (Trent Reznor) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin) at tonight’s 83rd Academy Awards Ceremony. The film, which picked up four awards including Best Picture at the Golden Globes and was nominated for eight Oscars, was definitely the Twitter and tech crowd favorite but apparently not the Academy’s.

ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR ENGINEERING ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS ALLTEL AMAZONCOM AMERICA MOVIL

Looks like Apple has finally shipped WebKit2 as part of Safari 5 in the recent Mac OS X Lion beta — so does that mean we can expect it in iOS 5 for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad? Originally announced in April, 2010 just as the first iPad was arriving: WebKit2 is designed from [...]

Apple starts using WebKit2 in Mac OS X Lion Safari… Will iOS 5 be next? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/ZFQ-p8k89vc/

MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR MOBILE TELESYSTEMS NANYA TECHNOLOGY

Google on Thursday began using a new algorithm to rid its top search results of what it described as low-quality websites. This will reduce the rankings for sites that are low value-add for users, ones that copy content from other websites, or sites that just aren’t very useful. Simultaneously, the algorithm will improve the rankings for high-quality sites.

SCIENTIFIC GAMES SANDISK SALESFORCE COM SAIC ROCKWELL AUTOMATION

Have you checked your Gmail lately? Better go check if you haven’t in a while, because there’s been some kind of “reset” at Google that’s resulted in missing emails, labels, folders and themes. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/xI7NSMekdck/dude-wheres-my-gmail

IXYS ITRON IRON MOUNTAIN INORATED IOMEGA INTUIT

Just shy of 40 successful space journeys, the NASA shuttle Discovery headed to the International Space Station Thursday on a final mission that followed repair problems and bad weather. Known as “STS-133,” Discovery’s last voyage will take 11 days. The shuttle is delivering a variety of parts and modules to the space station and carrying an interesting hitchhiker — a humanoid robot named “Robonaut 2,” or “R2.”

MOTOROLA MOODYS MISCROSOFT OFFICE MICROSOFT MICROSEMI

Continue reading Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread comes to Nexus One with WebM, disables Facebook contact sync

Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread comes to Nexus One with WebM, disables Facebook contact sync originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/23/android-2-3-3-update-brings-gingerbread-to-nexus-one-webm/

KLATENCOR KONINKLIJKE KPN LAM RESEARCH LIBERTY GLOBAL LM ERICSSON

Shopping List Manager for Windows Phone 7 organizes your grocery runs originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR MOBILE TELESYSTEMS NANYA TECHNOLOGY NII HOLDINGS

Apple, it seems, may be trying out some anti-jailbreak code in its iBooks e-book reader app. The app intentionally tries to run an some unsigned executable code every time you try to open a book — and if it runs, iBooks knows the device is jailbroken and refuses to open your e-books.

Fortunately (or unfortunately for Apple), the iPhone Dev-Team has released a new version of the PwnageTool jailbreak that incorporates the Chronic Dev Team’s ‘feedface’ iOS 4.2.1 untether and circumvents Apple’s crippling code.

Apple’s intentional hijacking of iBooks is an interesting move, but given its less-than-amiable stance on jailbreaking it’s surprising that it’s taken this long to actually implement anti-jailbreak mechanisms — especially after removing the infamous jailbreak API back in December. It now becomes a question of when Apple will insert similar measures into other iOS apps — and whether they will be a whole lot more destructive than merely blocking e-books. The Age of Bricking may be upon us!

Apple tests anti-jailbreak code in iBooks, new PwnageTool circumvents it originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 05:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/16/apple-tests-anti-jailbreak-code-in-ibooks-new-pwnagetool-circum/

NVIDIA NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS NOVELLUS SYSTEMS NOVELL NETWORK APPLIANCE

GParted 0.8 can recover data from lost partitions originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 19 Feb 2011 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

SALESFORCE COM SAIC ROCKWELL AUTOMATION RF MICRO DEVICES RED HAT

Mike Cardwell, the Stallmanite who recently discovered a fantastically covert way of working out which Web services you’re currently logged in to, has found a nasty XSS vulnerability in the LastPass password manager. The cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability not only allows nefarious types to see which sites you’ve recently logged in to, but it also provides access your email address and password reminder.

First off: don’t worry. Cardwell reported the vulnerability to LastPass before writing it up, and it has since been fixed. We’re not sure if the fix has propagated out to the Chrome and Firefox add-ons — but we have to assume that Cardwell wouldn’t have written his blog post if the vulnerability still existed.

With that said, you should still be more than a little concerned about the fundamental architecture of LastPass as an in-the-cloud password manager. While this cross-site scripting attack was fixed quickly, Cardwell thinks a similar attack “could easily happen again in future.”

Beyond being susceptible to XSS attacks, LastPass doesn’t even use HSTS, which means that man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks are also rather easy to pull off.

It’s very hard for us to recommend LastPass as a password manager when further vulnerabilities will almost certainly be found. For the time being, you should check out KeePass, an offline password manager that, for now, is a lot more secure than LastPass.

[Thanks to Brad for the tip!]

LastPass XSS vulnerability found, website and browser add-ons affected originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/27/lastpass-xss-vulnerability-found-website-and-browser-add-ons-af/

EARTHLINK DST SYSTEMS DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES DIODES INORATED DIEBOLD

Many iPhone users have been enjoying the Skyfire web browser since November and a lot of people have been patiently waiting for an iPad compatible version. If all goes well Skyfire should be available for the iPad very soon, perhaps before Christmas which is a good possibility according to a Skyfire spokesman. The iPad version [...]

LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS LAWSON SOFTWARE LAND SOFTWARE LAM RESEARCH L1 IDENTITY SOLUTIONS