Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences

You know those fridge magnet kits composed of a whole bunch of words? The ones you put all over your fridge door and then try to arrange into all sorts of juvenile and/or amusing sentences. Well, Farragomate is the social, webby version of that very same pastime.

You get to play with a bunch of random strangers in real-time, and make up sentences out of a pre-set collection of words, including some fairly naughty ones, and all players' nicknames. As you can imagine, some of the results are not child-friendly.

There are ten rounds to a game. Once a round is done, players get to vote for their favorite sentence from that round. You can't vote for your own creation, of course. There's in-game chat, too.

I think the vocabulary could be made a bit more eclectic, but even as it is, it's a nice way to spend a few minutes and meet random strangers on the Internet (always a thrilling experience).

Farragomate is a social fridge magnet game where you make up sentences originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/25/farragomate-is-a-social-game-where-you-make-up-sentences/

APPLIED MATERIALS ARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT

University of Tokyo builds a soap bubble 3D screen, guarantees your display stays squeaky clean (video)

There are waterfall screens, but what if you'd like your display to be a little more... pristine? Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a display that hits soap bubbles with ultrasonic sound to change the surface. At a minimum, it can change how light glances off the soap film to produce the image. It gets truly creative when taking advantage of the soap's properties: a single screen is enough to alter the texture of a 2D image, and multiple screens in tandem can create what amounts to a slightly sticky hologram. As the soap is made out of sturdy colloids rather than the easily-burst mixture we all knew as kids, users won't have to worry about an overly touch-happy colleague popping a business presentation. There's a video preview of the technology after the jump; we're promised a closer look at the technology during the SIGGRAPH expo in August, but we don't yet know how many years it will take to find sudsy screens in the wild.

Continue reading University of Tokyo builds a soap bubble 3D screen, guarantees your display stays squeaky clean (video)

University of Tokyo builds a soap bubble 3D screen, guarantees your display stays squeaky clean (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/29/university-of-tokyo-builds-a-soap-bubble-3d-screen/

IDT IBASIS

Recon goggles gain Facebook integration and augmented reality at Google I/O (hands-on video)

Remember that Android SDK Recon Instruments finally unveiled for its heads-up display goggles? Well the company was showing off the fruits of its labor here at Google I/O 2012 with two demos -- specifically two-way Facebook integration and augmented reality using a Contour camera. In the first demo, the goggles are paired over Bluetooth with an app running on an Android phone. Each time you jump while snowboarding or skying, the accelerometer data from the goggles is sent to the handset which posts a graphic to Facebook showing the distance, height and duration of your flight. Any comments made to the post are then immediately relayed back to the heads-up display. The second demo uses a Contour camera attached to the goggles and paired via Bluetooth. As you look around, the output from the camera appears on the heads-up display augmented with labels showing the location and distance of the nearby train stations based on the compass and GPS data from the goggles. Pretty cool, eh? Check out the gallery below and hit the break for our two hands-on videos.

Gallery: Recon Instruments at Google I/O 2012

Continue reading Recon goggles gain Facebook integration and augmented reality at Google I/O (hands-on video)

Recon goggles gain Facebook integration and augmented reality at Google I/O (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/UPaVhJlUfu8/

MOTOROLA MOODYS

Conman selling sealed iPhone and iPad boxes containing potatoes or bottles of water

A conman is ripping off unsuspecting members of the public who are looking to pick up an iPhone, iPad or other Apple products. The conman is operating in the East Yorkshire area of the United Kingdom and claims to be selling Apple's latest products at much reduced prices. The fraudster is approaching potential victims in the street and in exchange for an undisclosed amount of cash, the victim receives a sealed iPhone 4S or iPad package. Only after the conman has fled do they open the box to discover the most expensive potato or water bottle they have ever bought.

Detective Sergeant Darren Rose, of the Priority Crime Team in Hull, said: “If a deal appears to be too good to be true, the chances are it is. “Our advice is simple – if you want to purchase high-value property, such as laptops and high specification mobile telephones, go to a legitimate dealer and do not enter into deals with strangers on the street.” Humberside Police say the man approaches members of the public at random in the street, offering to sell them iPhones.

Common sense should prevail in situations like this however the idea of picking up an iPhone or iPad for a bargain price is hard for some people to resist. Unfortunately this is exactly why these scams become successful. With any purchases of products outside of a retail environment it always makes sense to at least see the actual product you are buying and see it in operation before parting with any money. Even then there is still a huge risk as you have no warranty and no idea of the origin of the products.

Source: Hull and East Riding

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/ibduQ-9s7_8/story01.htm

METHODE ELECTRONICS MENTOR GRAPHICS

Apple Products See the Unpolished Side of Chrome

Mac owners have been having more than a few headaches with Google's Chrome browser. Owners of new Macbook Airs have been complaining for several days that their devices have been freezing or crashing when they use the Chrome browser. Google has confirmed to Gizmodo that the problem is a leak of graphics resources in the Chrome browser related to the drawing of plugins on Mac OS X and that it's working to find and fix the root cause. "This is not good news for Google's reputation with Apple users," said Al Hilwa, a program director at IDC.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/20db3f18/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C75520A0Bhtml/story01.htm

HYPERCOM HEWLETT PACKARD CO

Windows 8 App Store images leaked?

Windows 8 images continue to leak onto the Internet, despite Microsoft's wallpaper-based pleas to those with access to the early releases. Today's installment courtesy CNBeta shows the upcoming Windows App Store, which will likely feature prominently in Windows 8.

We've got our doubts about the authenticity of the image. In addition to showing several of the built-in games which already ship with Windows, Opera is listed -- and a competing browser seems like an odd inclusion this early on. Of course, with the browser ballot still in place in the EU for quite some time, Microsoft would probably need to include rivals like Opera and Firefox to stay out of trouble. We're also not sure why Clickgamer is shown beneath Angry Birds instead of Rovio -- the game's actual publisher.

It's still early, of course, so it's entirely possible that the Windows App Store image is genuine but merely using placeholder images and text for now. Anyone else thinking Windows Marketplace might be a more logical name? You know, to keep things consistent with Windows Phone and keep Apple's legal eagles at bay.

Windows 8 App Store images leaked? originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/windows-8-app-store-images-leaked/

SUN MICROSYSTEMS STANDARD MICROSYSTEMS

Sony drops VAIO T from free PlayStation offer, hikes real cost of entry to $970

Remember how it seemed too good to be true that Sony's back to school promo would let you buy a VAIO T and get a free PlayStation 3 or Vita worth a third of the value of the Ultrabook you just bought? Well, it was. Sony has quietly dropped the $750 laptop from the PCs that qualify for the deal, raising the real qualifying price to $970 for a 15.5-inch VAIO S. Some will cry foul at being denied such a killer bargain without warning, but it's easy to see why Sony backed out: that's a lot of gear to give away for little in return. Dreams of heading to class with an ultraportable in hand and a PS3 at the dorm will have to be postponed, then, even if it's still an ample discount.

[Thanks, Gabriel]

Sony drops VAIO T from free PlayStation offer, hikes real cost of entry to $970 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/aOJIWONg2MY/

NINTENDO NOKIA

The SWAT Team Gently Reminds a Girl to Secure Her Wi-Fi Network By Raiding Her House with Flashbangs [WTFriday]

Here's a reminder that you should never, ever, ever have a Wi-Fi network without a password on it. Police in Indiana called up the SWAT team to raid an 18-year-old gir's house by smashing her front window and throwing two flashbangs inside because of her open Wi-Fi network. What the hell? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/lUSiWgpVQ0g/the-swat-team-gently-reminds-a-girl-to-secure-her-wi+fi-network-by-raiding-her-house-with-flashbangs

LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS

11 Incredible Escape Pods [Design]

Seriously, it's always the slowest ones that go down with the ship/flying aircraft carrier/Death Star. That's why our friends at Oobject have assembled the 12 best ways to bail out—and fast. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/71t1QGxAdAM/

VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY VIRGIN MEDIA