ie8 fix

tails

Review: Heads Vs Tails takes the coin-flipping game to new heights

Heads vs. Tails manages to take the least skill-based competition on the planet and create a compelling and engaging game out of it--albeit one that will not entertain for too long.

When you first open Heads vs. Tails, the options are limited. The higher-level "game" components remain locked until you've flipped the coin at least 20 times. However, that takes all of a minute to do and in the process you'll see why such a basic concept is so compelling. While no computer program can ever be truly random, Heads vs. Tails manages to imitate randomness … Read more

Crave Ep. 113: Hot! A homemade solar death ray

Subscribe to Crave:

iTunes (HD)iTunes (SD)iTunes (HQ)

RSS (HD)RSS (SD)RSS (HQ)

Backyard tinkerer Grant Thompson teaches us how to build a solar-powered death ray. A man gets a Netflix tattoo for life and only gets a measly one-year subscription for it. Plus, we meet Mr. Stubbs the alligator, the first reptile (that we know of, at least) to receive a prosthetic tail. Donation came from the Phoenix Herpetological Society and the Core Institute. … Read more

Faux iPhone tail creates instant cute overload

Ever wished your iPhone were just a bit more cuddly? Take the edge off that cold metal and glass design with a faux tail. Boom... instantly adorable.

The faux tails are available in three flavors: fox, raccoon, and inexplicably, lavender cat. Matching wallpaper is available for each tail to really tie the look together. The tails cost $10 each from Gama-Go. … Read more

Tag team with Tails in Sonic 4 Episode II

Sonic 4 Episode II for Android looks and plays just like the old platform Sonic the Hedgehog games we're used to, minus the tangible game controllers, of course. Still, with a virtual directional pad and jump button flanking the sides of your touch screen, running around and snatching up rings is just as fun as before. The game settings also let you turn on haptic feedback or switch to tilt control if you prefer.

In this follow-up to Sonic 4 Episode I, Sonic teams up with his old buddy Tails, bringing an array of new partnered attacks into the … Read more

The 404 992: Where we're getting to the bottom of this (podcast)

Did anyone else besides Jeff get teary-eyed yesterday watching Adele's performance at the Grammy Awards?

According to psychologist John Sloboda, there's a specific musical device called an "appoggiatura" that produces chills and a physiological reaction--in Jeff's case, a fist-clenching, hand-trembling faucet of man-tears.

On today's episode, we'll go around the table with the songs and movie scenes that pull at our heart strings, and why.

Can Amazon push Netflix out of limelight?

For years, Amazon appeared to be a big pushover when it came to delivering Web entertainment.

During the early part of the Internet Age, Amazon shipped CDs and DVDs to customers who ordered them via the Web and CEO Jeff Bezos' company became synonymous with Web music and movies. Then Apple's iTunes, and Netflix, laid waste to physical discs by delivering digital downloads and streaming video, and Amazon quietly drifted to the back of the pack.

But today Amazon flexed some muscle of its own by announcing it would stream movies for free to people who subscribe to the … Read more

Visa, Mastercard fail Web shoppers again

commentary Internet shoppers once again have reason to question whether Visa and MasterCard are the best means for buying online.

People have taken to Twitter and online forums to express shock about a compelling expose published in The New York Times on Friday. The story focused on an online retailer with a dubious history of customer service that included responding to complaints from unhappy patrons by allegedly threatening their lives. The newspaper reported that Vitaly Borker, a resident of New York, had generated so many complaints from selling eyewear on his site, DecorMyEyes.com, that all the negative comments had … Read more

Marketers in credit card scandal start lobby effort

Representatives from some of the post-transaction marketing firms now under government scrutiny for allegedly duping consumers into signing up for membership programs are trying to whip up support on Capitol Hill.

According to my sources in Washington, D.C., some of the marketers have sent representatives to meet with individual lawmakers about taking up their side as the U.S. Senate commerce committee continues to investigate the practices of three firms: Webloyalty, Affinion, and Vertrue.

These companies, all based in Connecticut, are accused by Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.V.), the committee's chairman, of misleading as many as 30 million … Read more

Tail Fins!

Nothing quite says "1950s' excess" like huge tail fins. Well, except maybe for acres of bright, shiny jukebox chrome. And exaggerated bumper bullets. No comparable trick has been used in automotive styling, except perhaps the picnic table-sized wings that were in vogue on cars like the Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo a few years back.

Oversize wings besotted somewhat a smaller number of cars than the fins of 50 years before, but both fashions stem from motorsports. Hey, if it looks like it won on Sunday, maybe it'll sell on Monday...

Today, most varieties of pure … Read more

The Long Tail works...because you have no chance at the Short Tail

I'm not sure what to do with this information, but I think Seth Godin is probably right in his estimation of the Long Tail theory:

A lot of people don't seem to understand a key implication of the long tail: Given the choice, it's better to make a hit. If you have a choice of cutting a top 10 record or making a track of Jamaican polka music for iTunes, go for the hit.

If you have a choice between being on page 30 of the Google results for "Bolivian sushi" or the number one … Read more