Mysterious "Castle" Appears in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion [Mac OS X]

Will there be a Castle in the iCloud when Mac OS X 10.7 Lion arrives? New screens suggest there could be, although what's contained in this strange feature remains very much a mystery. More »

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Shot Shot Pirate is a fun, simple physics game

Shot Shot Pirate is very satisfying, because each level is short and to the point. You know what you have to do and you just do it.

As you may have gathered from the name, you're cast in the role of a pirate. Your goal is to shoot at a diamond and make it fall off a tower of bricks. The height of the tower changes as you progress through the levels. It's not enough to just make the diamond fall off the tower of bricks - it has to fall below a certain line (drawn on the screen) for the level to be completed.

There are also different kinds of bricks, with some heavier than others, and different kinds of ammo. You only get a certain amount of ammo for each level, and when it's gone, you lose. But don't worry! If you don't make it on the first try, it's very easy to restart the level and just give it another shot (or three).

All in all it's a cute game. I've seen similar games with better graphics and music, but the game delivers on its main promise - a few minutes of pure time wasting!

Shot Shot Pirate is a fun, simple physics game originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mobile Health Apps, Part 3: On the Cutting Edge

The future of mobile healthcare apps is already here, and it readily conjures images of "Star Trek" and Dr. "Bones" McCoy's medical tricorder. Take for example, a new app system developed by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital that detects cancer. The palm-size nuclear magnetic resonance device, which mimics the gigantic MRI machine, sits on a patient's bedside table.

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Google Chrome now uses SPDY HTTP replacement, halves page load time

We're not entirely sure of the time line here, but it looks like Google has now rolled out the SPDY HTTP replacement to its full bevy of Web services, including Gmail, Docs, and YouTube. If you're currently using Google's Chrome browser you're probably already using SPDY.

We originally reported on SPDY way back in November 2009, when Google introduced it as yet another experiment in making the Web faster, like Go, Native Client and speculative pre-connections. Over the last 18 months, though, SPDY support has found its way into the stable build of Chrome.

SPDY is basically a streamlined and more efficient version of HTTP. At its most basic, SPDY introduces parallel, multiplexed streams over a single TCP connection -- but at the same time, SPDY allows for prioritization, so that vital content (HTML) can be sent before periphery content (JavaScript, video). All in all, the SPDY protocol can halve page load times, which is obviously rather significant.

The best bit, though, is that SPDY is an open-source project. HTTP 1.1 is a lumbering beast that needs to be replaced before low-latency real-time computing really becomes a reality, and SPDY is one of the best options currently on the table. To be honest, we're not sure why SPDY hasn't received more coverage -- it's awesome in every way. At the moment, though, the only way to help speed up SPDY's proliferation, is with an experimental Apache mod.

As far as actually 'trying it out,' your best bet is downloading Chrome, hitting up some Google sites, and then checking chrome://net-internals to see your active SPDY sessions. SPDY is a transparent replacement for HTTP, though, and as such it's rather hard to see its effects. Google's sites definitely feel fast in Chrome, but there are more technologies than just SPDY at work.

Google Chrome now uses SPDY HTTP replacement, halves page load time originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hacked

After suffering a massive network failure for more than a week, Sony's PlayStation division had the distinct pleasure of revealing to users it had been hacked -- deep and hard -- by cybercriminals who may have been able to pilfer some very valuable information. Before this happened, PlayStation's PR condition was already pretty frail on account of it suing its customers.

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XGear Smart Cover Enhancer For iPad 2

If you’re looking for a slick and stylish new case for your iPad 2 then you’ll love the Smart Cover Enhancer from XGear. Unlike some cases available this one covers your entire iPad 2 for complete protection. It’s designed to protect the normally exposed back of your device while maintaining the low profile look of [...]

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How to untether the Verizon iPhone Jailbreak on iOS 4.2.7 via Sn0wbreeze 2.6.1

Jailbroken Verizon iPhone users on iOS 4.2.7 have been stuck on a tethered jailbreak until recently. Sn0wbreeze 2.6.1 will allow you to go from tethered to untethered quickly and easily. So if you used redsn0w to jailbreak your Verizon iPhone and you’re currently tethered, hit the jump for a quick walkthrough on how to free [...]

How to untether the Verizon iPhone Jailbreak on iOS 4.2.7 via Sn0wbreeze 2.6.1 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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