swingly

Swing as long as possible

Rope'n'Fly 2 Lite is a free preview of Rope'n'Fly 2, a simple-but-fun physics-based, 2D arcade game in which you swing from building to building on a rope, trying to cover as much distance as possible. The touch-screen interface is easy to pick up: You begin the game falling onto a city skyline, and you just tap on a building to attach your rope. Once you're swinging forward, you tap again to release and then repeat to attach your rope to the next building. You want to time each release for the maximum forward momentum, but … Read more

Fancy to-do lists and a unique platform game: iPhone apps of the week

The evolution of the app store witnessed another milestone recently, with the release of a game that doubles as a very effective advertisement. One of my favorite iPhone games of the year, Firemint's Real Racing, just got a Lite version that doubles as a promotional tool for both the app and an outside company. Real Racing GTI (Free), sponsored by Volkswagen, lets you race on a few of the tracks of the full game using the 2010 Volkswagen GTI. You only get a small taste of the action in the full game, but it should be enough to help … Read more

Take to the links

Let's Golf offers up great graphics, solid gameplay, and is reminiscent of the popular platform golf game, Hot Shots Golf. Drawn in smooth 3D graphics with a cartoonish appeal, you can play three skill levels, on four courses, with your choice of four cartoon-drawn players of varying skill. Surprisingly, the touch screen almost performs better than traditional controllers, making it easy to aim shots via the touch screen and quickly check an overhead hole map to precisely aim your shots. You have your choice of playing the front or back 9 of any of the courses, or go in … Read more

LED swing is straight from a fairy tale

Here at Crave, it makes us very happy when designers write in to tell us about their creative goings-on.

The latest bit of inventor inspiration to hit the Crave in-box: the Swing Lamp by Boaz Cohen and Sayaka Yamamoto, who together make up the Netherlands-based industrial design duo BCXSY. Their 2-foot-wide LED-lit swing has an ethereal, whimsical feel as it whooshes through the dark like something out of Cirque du Soleil. It's powered by a rechargeable lithium battery.

Cohen and Yamamoto conceived of the illuminated polyethylene swing as part of a collection of products inspired by nostalgic childhood motifs. … Read more

The 'SunSpa': Light therapy for the bipolar pet

Depression among household pets may be worse than originally believed.

We thought the issue was more isolated last month upon learning of the "Fauna Sauna"--its name doesn't exactly scream credibility--a device that uses radiant heat "to bring healing to your pet right in your home." But now it has competition in the "SunSpa," another product that claims to control mood swings by simulating sunlight "for a warm and soothing heaven for your pets," according to Luxurylaunches. We're not sure about that, but it does look considerably more comfy than … Read more

Gadgettes 84: The Li'l Critters Episode

Molly must say "nubbins" at some point, because this episode is pretty much dedicated to the cute li'l critters of the world. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 84

The Duck Show http://duckshow.com/

Meet Tengu the Next American Idol http://chipchick.com/2008/04/meet_tengu_the_next_american_idol.html

Pool-cleaning robot powered by the sun http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9910173-1.html

USB Home Pregnancy Test Kit http://www.everythingusb.com/pteq-usb-pregnancy-test-14515.html

KickTrak pregnancy monitor http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2008/04/review_kicktrak.html

Itch Cat Scratch Pad http://www.popgadget.net/2008/03/itch_cat_scratc.php

Stop Motion … Read more

A high-stakes game of virtual golf

Golf has finally gone online with the likes of Microsoft Live and Sony's PlayStation Live, which is great news if you can gut out a room measuring at least 13 by 20 feet with a 10.5-foot ceiling. Oh, and you'll need about $55,000.

That's how much it would cost for Full Swing Golf's simulator to turn your bunker into a setting for 54 of the world's best courses, with options ranging from Pebble Beach to the Old Course at St. Andrews, all in photo-realistic 3D. And as you tee off with your own … Read more

Hank Thompson R.I.P.

Just a short time after the death of Porter Wagoner, country music has suffered the loss of another pioneer and legend, the great country songwriter, western-swing bandleader, and Country Music Hall of Famer Hank Thompson. He died of lung cancer November 6 at his home in Forth Worth, Texas, at age 82. … Read more

Legal end of an era

My grandparents lived very long lives. My mother's father was born in 1893, grew up on a sheep ranch in Australia, fought for the British in World War I, suffered numerous life-threatening calamities and collisions as a semi-professional adventurer, and lived 86 years. My father's parents both lived to the age of 96. And my mother's mother lived to be more than 100 years old. She was a professional musician who played in the big bands, backing movies like Abbott and Costello's Here Come the Co-eds and played most famously in Phil Spitalny's Hour of Charm All Girl Orchestra, chronicled in the book Swing Shift. (Sadly that book was written after the memories of most of the sources had begun to degrade.)… Read more

VoiceThread: photos, voice, and forums

VoiceThread is a photo sharing tool that launched earlier this month. It lets users upload photos from their hard drive or Flickr, and add voice and text annotations to each slide. These 'VoiceBooks' can be embedded in blogs, Web sites, or MySpace profiles. Other users can comment on each slide, with up to 28 comments per picture. The service is selling itself as a voice forum tool.

The VoiceBook creation process is handled entirely within one window, without the need to refresh or hop pages. It's pretty user-friendly, and adding photos is incredibly easy. In just a few minutes, … Read more