Torus is an impressive 3D Tetris game powered by HTML5

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.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/17/torus-is-an-impressive-3d-tetris-game-powered-by-html5/

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Torus is an impressive 3D Tetris game powered by HTML5

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.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/17/torus-is-an-impressive-3d-tetris-game-powered-by-html5/

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Google Cloud Print comes to HP ePrint printers

HP has become the first major OEM to deliver support for Google Cloud Print in retail-boxed printers. In an official release, HP announced that its ePrint-enabled printers are now fully Cloud Print compatible. Just sign in to your Google account, pick your HP ePrint device, and you're ready to fire off a print job from anywhere you've got Internet access. Well, as long as your app supports Cloud Print as well -- like Gmail and Google Docs, for example.

We're curious, though -- how many of you are still printing? Like our pals at Engadget, our printers have been mostly gathering dust for the last few years.

Google Cloud Print comes to HP ePrint printers originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/google-cloud-print-comes-to-hp-eprint-printers/

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Google Talk Guru answers questions via your IM app

Bots -- like the kind which automate IRC rooms and Google Wave -- are a good thing to know about. There are plenty of useful bots worth knowing about, too, including the Google Talk Guru.

Just add guru@googlelabs.com to your GTalk buddies, and you can start firing off questions. Lifehacker suggests that the same types of queries supported by Google SMS will work, though we didn't have any luck getting a response out of the Guru with phrases like "score detroit red wings" or "sushi R3N 1Y1."

Still, Guru does answer a good variety of questions and it works right within your favorite IM app. It's well worth adding to your friend list, especially for getting answers on the go on your mobile device of choice.

Google Talk Guru answers questions via your IM app originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/30/google-talk-guru-answers-questions-via-your-im-app/

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Is This That Thing You Lost In the Tornado? This Lady Found It. [Tornado]

After the surviving the tornado that ripped through Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and the rest of Alabama on Wednesday night, Patty Bullion began to notice random photos and documents washing up in her front yard. Figuring they belonged to somebody, she began posting them in a public Facebook group to see if anybody would claim them. They did. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/sUO4CZTHTDE/

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Onavo Is A Money-Saving, Must-Have App For EVERY iPhone Data User

There's really no better way to describe Onavo other than a must-have app for any and every iPhone user on a data plan. I'll go a step further: I think it's the very first app one should install. Why? Because Onavo shrinks your data usage (and thus, your bills). All you need to do is install the free app and you're done. The app will then run in the background and do its thing and all you have to do is continue consuming data as you do today? Surfing the web, emailing, tweeting, using maps, etc.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/6xGW8-OKAVw/

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Jello Hypnotically Bouncing at 6200 Frames Per Second [Video]

If I was going to start a new blog, it would be nothing but food under attack, shot with super slow-motion cameras. [Modernist Cuisine via brainpicker] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/afvA2acMGwk/jello-hypnotically-bouncing-at-6200-frames-per-second

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Hacker Chatter Suggests Thieves Have Millions of PSN Customers' Credit Cards

Hackers are reportedly attempting to sell 2.2 million credit card numbers stolen from the PlayStation Network database. Sony earlier said customers' personal data was encrypted; however, the company could not rule out the possibility that hackers might have accessed it. By Thursday, security researchers had seen talk on underground forums of hackers hoping to sell credit card lists for as much as $100,000.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/72361.html

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CrunchGear Week In Review: Robot Meeting Edition

Here are some of last week’s stories on CrunchGear: Video: German Spiderbot Hector Is 1m Long Videos: Teen-Size Humanoid Hajime Is Playing Soccer Review: TDK 3 Speaker Boombox The Tiny Fuuvi Pick Is A Cute But Practical Digital Camera Nicholas Says Adios!

Source: http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/04/18/week-in-review-robot-meeting/

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Google Chrome and Chromium add protection against malicious downloads

Google Chrome already sports a number of security-minded features, from Incognito mode to a software sandbox which makes exploiting the browser a Herculean task. Now, Google has announced additional protection for Chromium and Chrome users.

Built upon the Safe Browsing API, the new feature introduces protection against malicious downloads. If a download link appears in the Safe Browsing blacklist, Chrome and Chromium will warn users against downloading -- a save button is still presented, of course, in case you're convinced a file is perfectly safe to download.

We'd like to see something a bit more eye-catching than the red warning icon -- like perhaps painting the entire bar red. Many of the people a feature like this aims to protect probably won't notice the icon or change in wording as they'll be focused on clicking the save button.

Google is initially making download protection available to Chrome dev channel users, and you'll likely see it in Canary and Chromium snapshot builds as well. After thorough testing, beta and stable users will be next in line.

Google Chrome and Chromium add protection against malicious downloads originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/05/google-chrome-and-chromium-add-protection-against-malicious-down/

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Alpha Bike concept: free-wheeling fixie for flip-floppers

So Philliebot was a fail, but this chainless bicycle serves as proof that UPenn doesn't always come up short. The Alpha Bike, designed by a group of engineering students, contains an entirely internal drivetrain that allows riders to switch between fixed-gear and multi-gear setups. The simple switch is enabled by an electronically controlled clutch, part of the Switchable Integrated Free-Fixed Transmission (SWIFT), discreetly hidden in the bike's frame. Populating the front hub are a drum brake and a dynamo, which juices the bike's electronics -- the back hub contains a three-speed gear set, put in motion by a simple push-pull cable. When the front wheel starts rolling, an LED screen mounted in the carbon fiber handlebars is illuminated, displaying time, cadence, and speed, among other things -- this data and more is stored on an accessible SD card. As of now, the bike is still a prototype, but if you start saving now, you might actually have enough scratch to buy one when it comes to fruition.

Alpha Bike concept: free-wheeling fixie for flip-floppers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/29/alpha-bike-concept-free-wheeling-fixie-for-flip-floppers/

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HBO Go for iPhone and iPad now available

HBO Go is now available as a universal application for iPhone and iPad. If you’re an existing HBO subscriber, you will have access to over 1,400 HBO shows include HBO original programming, hit movies, sports an comedy. Keep up with your favorites. Watch everything you love about HBO, including HBO original programming, hit movies, sports, [...]

HBO Go for iPhone and iPad now available is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/9KyQXm-D0kk/

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AVG launches LiveKive cloud sync and backup tool

A while back, we told you about AVG's new LiveKive service, a new cloud synchronization and backup tool which appears to have been named after a vat in which mash is made during the brewing process. But enough about AVG's odd choice of monikers -- LiveKive has launched and is now ready to accept your files into the AVG cloud.

LiveKive takes aim at services like Dropbox and SugarSync, though at the moment it's lagging behind in terms of features. As it stands, LiveKive is only compatible with Windows and OS X. There are no mobile clients yet, though with AVG's strong presence on Android we wouldn't be surprised to see an app arrive in the near future.

The company is offering a heck of a deal right now, however. If you sign up for a paid account during the launch phase, you can score unlimited storage for $80 for a whole year. You can't even score 50GB per year at that price from Dropbox, so if cost and space are more important to you than cross-platform availability, LiveKive might be worth checking out.

If you're not interested in ponying up any cash at the moment, you can still get a 5GB account free of charge. Just head on over, and create a LiveKive account.

AVG launches LiveKive cloud sync and backup tool originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/avg-launches-livekive-cloud-sync-and-backup-tool/

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Seagate GoFlex Slim USB 3.0 + USB 2.0 320 GB Ultra Portable Hard Drive Review

Adding more storage capacity to a desktop or laptop computer used to involve having to take the computer apart and adding in the extra drive, not to mention on some computers the pain and frustration of getting to the drive to remove it. Not so anymore with all the external drives coming out on the [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/04/29/seagate-goflex-slim-usb-3-0-usb-2-0-320-gb-ultra-portable-hard-drive-review/

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Daily Crunch: Tailed Edition

The Chargepad Is Panasonic?s New Wireless Charging Solution For Mobile Chargers Miyamoto: New Console Definitely In The Works, Tanooki Suit As Well The Nissan Leaf Wins World Car Of The Year, Chevy Volt, Green Car Of The Year Pentax Outs Camouflage Design Grips For Its K-r Camera Lego Factory Separates Blocks, Will Soon Separate Humans

Source: http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/04/22/daily-crunch-tailed-edition/

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SIM-sized satellites to lift off with Endeavour this afternoon

They won't be beaming GPS or radio signals back to Earth anytime soon, but these one-inch-square satellites could one day travel to distant planets -- without fuel. Developed over a period of three years by a team of undergraduates at Cornell University, the Sprite chips could eventually be used for communication, flying in clusters like tiny space plankton. After hitching a ride on-board the final space shuttle Endeavour mission this afternoon, the three prototype satellites will be mounted outside the International Space Station, where they'll sit for the next few years, exposed to conditions found only beyond our atmosphere. Perhaps someday we'll even see some "Spprite" KIRFs by the time China's own space station is ready to hit the launchpad in 2020.

Continue reading SIM-sized satellites to lift off with Endeavour this afternoon

SIM-sized satellites to lift off with Endeavour this afternoon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/29/sim-sized-satellites-to-lift-off-with-endeavour-this-afternoon/

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Just get a new white iPhone 4? Here?s what you need next!

So did you order or head down to the store and pick up a fancy new White iPhone yesterday? Once you’re powered up and ready to go… you might just be wondering what you need to know and do next? Don’t worry, TiPb has your back! iPhone Starters Guide: Get unpacked, get set up, get [...]

Just get a new white iPhone 4? Here’s what you need next! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/C_803Id5Fdg/

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OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows

I have a thing for full-screen text editing. I use WriteMonkey for my creative writing needs, and VIM in a full-screen PuTTY session for my Web development work. That being the case, I'm all over the monospace, dark-background, focused editing scene.

OmmWriter attempts to take that aesthetic and make it somehow more spiritual, with three picturesque backgrounds and ambient background audio tracks (there are seven of each in the paid version).

I'm of two minds about this app. On the one hand, yes, it's beautiful. But if you want music as a background to your writing, why not pick your own soundtrack with Winamp or Foobar2000 running in the background?

OmmWriter also offers three keyboard-clicking sounds, which are kind of nice. None of these features are groundbreaking, really. OmmWriter could be seen as a way to gently ease into the world of distraction-free writing -- in case something like WriteMonkey's dark background is just too oppressive for you.

After the fold you can see a video showcasing several of OmmWriter's features and creative soundscapes.

Continue reading OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows

OmmWriter brings its clean, calm writing interface to Windows originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/ommwriter-brings-its-clean-calm-writing-interface-to-windows/

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AT&T-Mobile

Unless you have been living under a rock or in a cave, you’ve heard about the pending merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. What will this mean for us, those who love AT&T’s network and those who love T-Mobile’s price point? We aren’t sure but it certainly has a lot of us worried. Why? Competition. When [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/04/28/att-mobile/

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Deal of the Day ? 50% Off HP Officejet 6500A Plus Wireless E-All-in-One Printer Plus a Free $50 HP Gift Card

Today?s LogicBUY deal is 50% savings on the HP Officejet 6500A Plus E-All-in-One printer (E710n) for $99.99.� Features: print and copy speeds up to 32 ppm, color resolutions up to 4800 X 1200 dpi, up to 7000 pages monthly. Best deal found for this printer:� $199.99 – $70 instant savings – $30 coupon code = [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/04/26/deal-of-the-day-%e2%80%93-50-off-hp-officejet-6500a-plus-wireless-e-all-in-one-printer-plus-a-free-50-hp-gift-card/

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This is What a Resort Carved Into a Mountain Looks Like [Architecture]

What good is a resort that sticks out like a grotesque pimple in an otherwise gorgeous locale? No good, that's what. The designers of Wadi Rum Resort are taking the opposite approach by integrating the resort into a Jordanian mountainside, which they say has "nominal impact" on the surroundings. You'll be able to see the results of spas and rooms built into fissures and faults when it opens in 2014. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/CYDLAF3PAY8/this-is-what-a-resort-carved-into-a-mountain-looks-like

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The Slow Boil of Privacy Erosion

As the Apple iPhone personal tracking database brouhaha rolls on, it's becoming increasingly clear that Apple isn't exactly tracking iPhones -- though there are many shades of gray -- and that reactions to the idea or practice of tracking has a surprisingly wide range of feeling. Some seem to think that having their iPhones track their locations is cool, like a personal journal.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/72350.html

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Google Voice Search learns Latin American Spanish, Indonesian, and Malaysian

Google Voice Search has just introduced localizations for Latin America, Indonesia and Malaysia, enabling native language search for hundreds of millions of users.

Google's official blog post offers some interesting insights into the process of collecting and analyzing the speech data needed to expand support. Thousands of hours were spent gathering voice samples and choosing key regional accents to analyze, and International Program Manager Linne Ha is clearly very appreciative of the Google users who helped the company complete the expansion. Without an enthusiastic base of users to lend a hand, Google Voice Search's polyglot powers would have been nearly impossible to deliver.

Google Voice Search learns Latin American Spanish, Indonesian, and Malaysian originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/31/google-voice-search-learns-latin-american-spanish-indonesian-a/

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Just in Time for Spring: Glove Radar

This looks kind of cool for us sedentary office nerds whose only social interaction is on a company-sponsored softball team that is run by the jocks of the company and only allow nerds to play catcher or left field or some other innocuous invisible position and . . .�� oops, sorry TMI. Anyway, the GloveRadar [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/04/25/just-in-time-for-spring-glove-radar/

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Pastebin updated to V3, releases Windows app

Pastebin is a very popular website aimed at coders and other nerdy types, which allows them (or should I say, us) to paste and share snippets of code with lovely syntax highlighting.

It has recently undergone a major overhaul which includes the release of a brand new Windows client. The new client lets you create new "pastes" and manage your existing ones. It joins a host of other tools from Pastebin, such as the Google and Chrome extensions, OS X widget and the mobile apps.

If you're currently using Pastebin, the new client is a great addition. And if you haven't tried it before, next time you have a piece of code you want to share or get some feedback on, you could do worse than try out Pastebin.

[Thanks, Jeroen!]

Pastebin updated to V3, releases Windows app originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/04/pastebin-updated-to-v3-releases-windows-app/

DST SYSTEMS DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES DIODES INORATED DIEBOLD DELL

Microsoft releases sexy Bing app for iPad

It's still a bit odd seeing Microsoft deliver apps for Apple's mobile platform. And it's even stranger still to see one as sexy as the new Bing app for iPad, which brings a slick, immersive search experience to Apple's tablet.

Just as a regular search on bing.com will, the Bing app for iPad tailors the results it displays based on what you're searching for. There are loads of custom views, covering everything from movies and maps to weather and shopping. The app also offers a heads-up display of currently trending searches, complete with related images, which is an iPad-exclusive feature.

Navigation is a breeze thanks to multitouch controls, allowing users to flick or swipe through results. And while the development team refers to the app as "touch and decide," Bing Voice Search is also built in -- making it easy to start a query without using the iPad's on-screen keyboard.

The Bing app for iPad is available for download now from the App Store.

Microsoft releases sexy Bing app for iPad originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/microsoft-releases-sexy-bing-app-for-ipad/

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