The Legend Of Zelda: A Generation?s Awakening Sega Toys? R2-D2 Homestar Planetarium Shows The Death Star Surveillant Society ?Rotary Mechanical? Cell Phone Concept Isn?t Practical, But It Looks Great 11 Great Last Minute Geeky Father?s Day Gifts Weekend Giveaway: Man Cave Gear For Pops
By Ellen Barone The sun, the hills, the clotted cream. There’s nothing as existentially refreshing as a slow walk through the English countryside. For eight June days, I strapped on my hiking boots for a coast-to-coast ramble with The Wayfarers across South West England, where the food is local, the air crisp, and the hilltop views…
I started snowboarding in 1996. I was 11 years old and my parents took me and my sisters on a winter trip to Austria. Both my sisters went skiing that week and I decided I wanted to try snowboarding because I saw a big air competition on Tv. In the beginning I was only able to ride one week a year, living in the flat Netherlands. When I graduated Highschool in 2004 I moved to Amsterdam. At first I was too occupied with collage and gymnastics but after a while I checked out the local indoor slope. I remember the first time I hit the indoor jump. From that moment on I was sold to the sport. The first years I would mostly ride indoors and I would have the opportunity to ride outside a couple weeks a year. In 2007 I went on a trip to Breckenridge, Colorado for my first season snowboarding outdoors. I learned hitting bigger jumps and loved the feeling of flying!
I started to do competitions and within 2 years I made it to the finals of the Burton European open and European X games. I hope to do good at the competitions upcoming season and can't wait to take my tricks to some jumps in the backcountry!
The video up there says it all. Wiz Kid Jr. is a fast-paced, puzzle-based game that challenges not only your finger dexterity but also your forethought and ability to adapt on-the-fly.
The idea is classic: anything of the same color can be destroyed or removed if there's three or more of them together. In this case, they're totems, and they give you mana. The mana doesn't give you any cool powers (for that, there's magic bolts), but it does keep your game going. Mana is like your essence, your life-blood, and without it, the baddies win.
Getting rid of totems (or the undesirables) is easy. Draw a connecting line between them, and poof, they disappear. Unfortunately, diagonal lines are a no-no, but you can still string together some pretty impressive combos if you snake to-and-fro and make sure you start the line at the optimal location. If you can't, you can still totally just go for groups of three or four (I totally did) to get your mana up little by little.
The bad guys are evil spirits, but I still think they're evil faces, and for some reason, they like munching on your mana. There's six different kinds, but you don't face them all unless you're playing on the Unstoppable Wizard difficulty. For beginner wizard, you face the first three that are unlocked, and as you unlock the more difficult levels, a new evil spirit is unlocked as well.
You're able to have six levels of mana saved up, noted by the change in your mana bar's color and the amount of vials sitting above it. You can save up more mana after you've already filled six vials, but I'm not sure by how much, because at that point, evil spirits were munching my mana so quickly I couldn't fill it up fast enough. At any rate, just know you can save up a big war chest in case the waves start coming too quickly.
Something also worth saving up (especially for the later levels), are your magic bolts. Magic bolts fuel some special abilities you unlock that can greatly expedite the removal of evil faces. You start off with the hammer at the beginner level, and it does just that: hammers away a totem or spirit. There's a small cooldown between using magic bolt-infused abilities, so you can't just blow half your hammers back-to-back when the going gets rough. As you unlock more abilities (also in conjunction with more difficult levels and more spirits), you'll have more options at your disposal, but to keep them scaled with their increased power, their cost goes up. I know the bomb costs two bolts (compared to the hammer's one), and I can only assume the next two will cost three and four (or more!).
There's also a Super Free Play mode, which lets you pick the wave speed, spirit anger, and any three spirits to duke it out with. It's fun to have and definitely lets you work out strategies against some of the spirits that may be causing you trouble.
Overall, Wiz Kid Jr. is a stellar game. Graphically, it's nails. The scary, training wizard man up top looks great, as do all the stylized fonts and accents. It runs smooth as butter, and has a kickin' soundtrack, to boot. If you like puzzle games (or anything that'll surely challenge you), Wiz Kid Jr. is a safe bet. There's a free version that's limited to 10 waves and a paid version, that for a mere 99 cents, nets you the whole game. If you like what you see, find yourself four quarters and pony up the dough. There's ghosts evil spirits to be busted.
More pictures and download links are after the break.
A story by Silvia Vidal Photos by Olivier Favresse, Nicolas Favresse, Sean Villanueva and Stephane Hanssens.
Usually I write about a climbing. This time I'm writing about the reasons that brought me to climb a not planned route and with some other climbing partners as first expected, on Mount Asgard (Baffin Island, Canada).
I was planning a summer expedition to Baffin Island with a friend of mine (Luis Gomez, Madrid-Spain). We started to prepare things early in the season trying to have things under control. But it didn't happen like that and the previous part of the trip was an epic and a nightmare.
The original plan was to try to put up a new route on the main face from the South Tower of Mount Asgard. But our expedition was totally frustrated before leaving our country and at the end Luis decided to cancel his flights and not go to Baffin. The reason was that we had no option to climb something that motivated us.
Instead of this, finally I climbed the "Belgarian" route, a free climbing variation from the "Bavarian" route on Asgard South Tower, being a five member team. Because when things turned down something else appeared.
What happened to us was that we needed to send in advance a cargo with all the climbing equipment and the food we would need to spend a couple of months in the island. We wanted to use the outfitters services (they use snow mobiles) to bring the things just before the glacier from Asgard. But for that we needed to send it in spring before the ice melts, because they drive above the iced rivers. Mount Asgard is really far from the main village, about 50 Km. plus hiking up the glacier to the base of the wall. That means a lot of carryings if we need to do them by ourselves.
Finally, after being in contact with a Belgian climbing team (Sean Villanueva, Nicolas Favresse, Olivier Favresse and Stephane Hanssens) we decided to share the sending with them, because it seemed that things could be easier.
After some problems with the food, Canadian border has strong restrictions for the imported food; we were able to send the cargo. It was blocked there for a long time, more than a month and a half, and finally our cargo company (DHL) wasn't able to send it to Baffin. So, after many phone calls, mails and tension, the cargo came back to Belgium in June. We couldn't believe it!
During all this process, the National Park Director called at home to advise us that this year there was more polar bear activity in the area as usual, and for this reason they forbid us to leave any kind of food and fuel in the area, except if we were sending polar bear containers! There are no polar bear containers in Europe...
As Luis was working it was my turn to take the car and go to Brussels (2.700Km-1680 miles go and return) to take the cargo and bring it back to Spain.
Luis and I were desperately looking for a solution; it meant we were looking for a new goal. But there were not too many options and there were no closer walls that motivated us.
The day before our departure, Luis came to Barcelona and we spent some hours talking and finally he decided not go to Baffin. After months of preparations, phone calls, the food, the cargo, the National Park, the polar bears... the doubts... all our motivation was frustrated. We had no more energy to fight for... nothing. There was no climbing goal.
It was really sad to recognize it and we had no too much option because being just two people in the team was not enough to carry all the Km that are from the end of the fiord to the base of the wall. More than 50 Km. that we needed to do many times (going and returning, up and down). No option, for us, not enough holiday time.
Luis canceled his flight and I had a horrible night trying to decide what to do, if to cancel it as well or leave alone, anyway. I decided to go anyway, knowing that there were not too many options for me because I was going alone. And knowing that maybe I won't climb. I went anyway because to climb in remote areas that have something intense apart from the climbing; the landscape, the nature, the wilderness, the loneliness... But it was a hard decision, because climbing has been always the main goal, the reason. I left with all the gear, just in case...
I took the plane and I paid hundreds of euros for the extra weight. I decided to bring the whole gear in case I would like to solo something in a Big Wall style.
In Ottawa I met the Belgians and we shared the first part of our trip together. They were heading to Asgard but no concrete plans, and during the march they stopped in different areas to climb some nice walls in a day.
I was approaching Mount Tirokwa (its one day walking). At the second day of carryings I decided I wasn't motivated enough to climb it. The first time I saw the wall I didn't have de desire to climb it. And the first sight is always important for me. So, I knew I wouldn't climb it. And then I had no other options. That was hard as well, because one thing is to imagine a situation and another is to live it.
I rested for some days at Tirokwa's base camp, and during this time we (the Belgians and me) were sharing same camp, because they decided to climb there as well.
Then they proposed me to share a big wall ascent in Asgard with them. They were already 4 and for me their proposal was a surprise. I didn't expect it. We carried about 500 Km to get to Asgard and to come back. Being five people that was possible.
We were five in a wall and we slept in 2 double portaledges and a hammock. Every day we decided who was going to sleep there, that was an adventure. The night I slept there I twisted and I fell down, hanging on the jumars inside the sleeping bag. That was a new experience as well.
The wet spring has delivered a great crop of wildflowers in the Flatirons. I trust you’ve been trail-running, hiking, and birding up there, so it’s probably no news to you. If you haven’t gotten out, though, try to make some time because there are columbines, arnica, blanketflowers, and tons more up there. I had the [...]
The healthy properties of sesame oil are no fairy tale.
Photograph: Pieter De Swart
Most fairy tales contain universal truths about good and evil, growing up, quests, the truth, the grail. For the most part, the truths lie hidden in parables and metaphors. And sometimes the truth lies so much on the surface that we can easily overlook it. For example, the idea that sesame is so healthy that it opens the path to hidden treasures. Ali Baba’s famous spell—Open sesame!—is pretty much literally true, but with all the robbers and caves around, the fact can escape our attention.
In the Middle East, where this tale from The Thousand and One Nights originated, people have eaten sesame seeds and tahini (a sauce made from sesame seeds) for centuries, so they knew whereof they spoke. Now science confirms the benefits of sesame and particularly of sesame oil. Roasting sesame not only makes it aromatic and nutty, but because of its great number of antioxidant phenols, the oil that results is a strong antioxidant. The result is a phenomenal type of fat that does not clog arteries but keeps them clean and open.
Look for high-quality roasted sesame oil exclusively from sesame seeds and not cut with any inferior oil. Because of its delicious aroma and ability to tolerate high temperatures, this oil is perfect to use in stir fries. A couple of drops on cooked broccoli are also delicious; a couple of drops in vegetable soup give it a fragrant strength; and it does wonders for a salad dressing. Then sesame’s magical effect will begin to work on the inside.
As the world runs short on snarky phone titles (and in fact, starts using a couple of the gems on more than one occasion), we're left to overlook the moniker here while focusing on what's important: that display. In fact, the 4.7-inch WVGA Super LCD shown here actually does seem to extend on for Eternity, and if HTC Inside's leak pans out, we could be looking at the world's next WP7 superphone. It's bruited that this fellow will be shipping with a single-core 1.5GHz processor, 8 megapixel camera (autofocus, dual LED flash), a 720p movie mode, front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, 16GB of storage, DLNA support, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and a 1,650mAh battery. That's a pretty startling list of features, and savvy Windows Phone followers will recognize that the Mango update will indeed be necessary before that front-facing shooter becomes useful. Needless to say, we'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more, as essentials like price and release have thus far eluded us.
What's more impressive than a car that can do over a thousand miles per gallon? One that was designed by school kids. In the UK, students from regional schools and universities took part in the annual Mileage Marathon Challenge near Leicester, England, each team vying to set new gas mileage efficiency records in a race around a track. Cars were allowed to coast, but had to maintain a minimum speed of 15 miles per hour. Students worked on the vehicle prototypes, many in partnership with design and engineering firms.
Canonical has announced the OpenStack cloud platform will be the core technology in the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud package which allows organizations to launch Linux-based clouds. - Enterprises interested in using Ubuntu Server to power their cloud infrastructure will be using the OpenStack cloud platform and not Eucalyptus, Canonical announced. The decision was not entirely unexpected. Future versions of Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud package will be based on the OpenStack as a f...
ColorWare PC made a business out of painting everyday electronics. For whatever reason, people seem to truly enjoy getting gadgets in various colors, rather than the standard hues that any given company may ship. Camera companies have evidently figured this out as well, with Pentax being the first major company to ship a number of DSLR cameras...
In real estate, they always say the most important thing is “location, location, location”. For winter boots, after you find a pair that fits your feet well, my mantra is “traction, traction, traction!”
Keen has developed a pair of winter boots with excellent traction, the Keen Hoodhoo High Lace Boots. I reviewed a [...]
While a legal battle could still be ahead, developers are breathing a sigh of relief after Apple came to their defense against a group seeking licensing fees to use the in-app purchase feature.
SAN FRANCISCO& Google I/O May 10 was a big hotbed for Android tablet and smartphone news, with the launch of the Android "Honeycomb" 3.1 and allusion to the Ice Cream Sandwich build. While Android 3.1 is incremental, Ice Cream Sandwich is the next Android smartphone build that marks a significant shift for Google, which is looking to port Honeycomb features to smartphones to curb some of the Android platform fragmentation that some developers and users have complained about. Google Android engineer Mike Cleron spent a good chunk of the demonstration time here showing off the new Honeycomb 3.1 perks and discussing Ice Cream Sandwich. One of the popular perks included Google's inclusion of the new USB host API to let users plug peripherals into a Honeycomb tablet. This will allow users, for example, to import photos from their digital camera to their tablet. Another big feature was the experimental Xoom camera technology that tracks users' head movements, even switching from one user to another via video chat. eWEEK walks through the new and forthcoming Android technologies in this slideshow. - ...
Tom Holzhauser, Dominik Angehrn my brother Michi and I arrived in Valle Cochamo beginning of January 2009 having two month of climbing.
We arrived without plans, only an article from the web and a few photos in our minds.
After checking the area we decided that Cerro Capicua would be the wall to go for, because there are only two routes on this wall - and both aid A4. With a machete and lots of big wall gear we started fighting our way through the Chilean rain forest.
The first 500 meters of the route went quite quick (a vertical vegetation pitch and the rest 5.10) only hauling "big mama" 1 and 2, & the portaledge (120 kg) up, slowed us down big time. After arriving the big ledge half way up the wall, we found out, that there is water running!! We were laughing to death, carrying 60 liters water up the wall for nothing!
The wall started steep of the ledge. It took me the whole day to climb two pitches!
We continued aiding up with our best friends the birdbeaks and a hilti drill. The Rock was not really first ascent friendly. Closed grassy cracks almost the whole way! The second pitch of the ledge was the breakthrough. It looked impossible, blank slab with a closed crack! But it went free at 5.12d.
It carried on the same style - birdbeak after birdbeak. Dominik, Tom and Michi had to fight with the same problems then I had. It slowed us down, but we were making progress (two pitches a day).
The next four pitches from the portaledge were not nice, steep dirty grassy offwith (5.10 / A1) climbing. We climbed to the top, but none of us wanted to clean and free climb the upper part of the route.
So, we decided that we would try another top out to the right. It was a good decision! We found perfect pitches, a hammer portaledge camp with a ledge and one of the best 5.12d I ever climbed!
After climbing a really grassy crack on the left of our ledge I found a killer line straight up the ledge on the way down. The first few meters of the ledge was blank and I almost gave up trying, till I used my bouldering skills and found that the only way is a full body dyno to a crimp, 800 meters of the deck! Perfect. After a few more tricky pitches, which Michi led, we arrived at the summit a second time, this time all free. We named the route: "Los Tigres del Norte" (5.12d, 24 pitches, 1200 meters) and "Los Gorilas del Norte" (5.12d/A2, 24 pitches, 1200 meters).
It took us 18 days on the wall with a few rests between, 40 bolts and 10 smashed birdbeaks to get the first free ascent of the wall.
After I had to go home, Dominik and Michi climbed "Los Tigres del Norte" in one push. After a few rest days, they returned back with new skin and the route in mind. They speed up the wall free in eleven hours and made the trip perfect
The rare albino iPhone 4 has been spotted numerous times in the wild, skulking through the trees in the magical United Kingdom, cavorting across the mysterious lands of Vietnam, and most recently standing in formation in Belgium. Now it's coming somewhere rather less exotic: the Apple Store. Apple has finally announced it will release the white iPhone 4 tomorrow around the world. Here in the US it'll come in both AT&T and Verizon flavors, warming the hearts and minds of those who like a little less pigment on their handsets. Other than a proximity sensor tweak nothing else has changed on the device, and so the pricing remains the same: $199 on contract for the 16GB model, $299 for 32GB. Sadly, though, your contract also remains the same, and we're pretty sure really wanting a new phone to match your earbuds isn't grounds for avoiding an ETF.
What's more impressive than a car that can do over a thousand miles per gallon? One that was designed by school kids. In the UK, students from regional schools and universities took part in the annual Mileage Marathon Challenge near Leicester, England, each team vying to set new gas mileage efficiency records in a race around a track. Cars were allowed to coast, but had to maintain a minimum speed of 15 miles per hour. Students worked on the vehicle prototypes, many in partnership with design and engineering firms.
