Smarty Tiles: A colorful brain game
I’m not much of a gamer. In fact, Smarty Tiles was the first game I downloaded on my Moto X (2013) since I bought the smartphone last October (2013). As a result, I won’t make any comparisons between Smarty Tiles and other games. Instead, I’ve put together a panel of expert gamers; my 8 year old son, and his two friends (10 & 6).
Before we get into their expert review of Smarty Tiles, a little background information.
Smarty Tiles is the first attempt at a game by ASTRARIS, a one-man developer. The design of the game was inspired by Windows 8. He liked the minimalist look of the tiles and used that to create a game that challenges the mind, and quickens the reflexes. The game itself was inspired by the Stroop Effect, which synchronizes the two hemispheres of the brain. After about 6 weeks of development Smarty Tiles has combined the design inspiration and the game inspiration into a simple, and beautiful app.
The idea for the game is pretty basic. You are presented with a colored block and a word inside the block. The word may or may not be the color of the block. So for example, you might see an orange block with the word “blue” inside of it. In this case, you would tap the NO option and move on to the next block. In short,
Tap on “YES” when the color of the tile and word are the same
Tap on “NO” when the color of the tile and word are different
The challenge comes as you are given less and less time to read, discern, and tap. It’s kind of like that old game where you would ask someone to say “fork” ten times, then ask them what you eat soup with. The brain takes a second to make the connection. If you aren’t on your toes, and you are worried about time expiring, then you might just choose poorly.
Smarty Tiles gets more complicated as the color pallet expands and the words are presented in different colors. You might get an orange block with the green word “blue” in it. Is your head hurting yet?
I spent some time playing the game at its most basic level, and found that my brain was definitely engaged in the activity. This is not a passive, mind numbing game you play when you want to relax on the couch at night. This is a game to help improve focus and reaction time. I dared not attempt the more advanced levels of the game for fear of looking foolish in front of my gaming experts.
Let’s see what they had to say.
6 year old
Like – “I like that it has colors and it cheers when you get a new high score.”
Dislike – “I don’t dislike anything about it.”
8 year old
Like – “It’s a challenging game and it really has your brain working.”
Dislike – “I don’t like that the game is over when you press the wrong button.”
10 year old
Like – “It’s a fun game. You get really competitive.”
Dislike – “It’s hard and it goes a little bit fast. You might freak out and press the wrong button.”
All three kids agreed Smarty Tiles was good for anyone 8 years old and up. The 6 year old would not recommend it to his friends, but the other two would. If play time is any indication, all three kids were done playing in about 10 minutes. Now, they are in their shared Minecraft world. To be fair, all three are addicted to Minecraft, and it’s half the reason they look forward to hanging out together.
There are 26 different game modes to chose from. You can go from simple, yet challenging, to just about impossible. One of the best parts about the game is that there are no in-app purchases (Full Disclosure: I’m totally biased towards apps that do not have in-app purchases). Smarty Tiles is also available in 9 different languages, so if you want to make it really difficult, try playing in Korean (unless you speak Korean, then try Russian).
Check out Smarty Tiles and let us know what you think.
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The Thirty Meter Telescope’s construction is finally underway
After decades in limbo and a few more months of construction delay, the folks behind the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Project have begun building the gargantuan device at last. The groundbreaking ceremony was held just this October 7th near the top of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano, six months later than the TMT organization originally intended when it got a land permit from the state’s authorities in 2013. Since natives consider the summit of Mauna Kea (and the rest of the mountains in the region) as sacred (and since the sheer size of the observatory could affect the environment), the project’s been met with resistance since its inception in the 90’s. In fact, even the groundbreaking ceremony was moved back a few hours, because protesters blocked the road up the volcano during the event.
The Thirty Meter Telescope will measure 100 feet across, will be composed of 492 hexagonal mirrors and will deliver 10 times the resolution NASA’s Hubble telescope is capable of. It’ll undoubtedly be an astronomer’s extremely powerful ally in deciphering the mysteries of the universe when it becomes operational. If construction isn’t delayed any further, we could use it as soon as 2022 to see really close views of our neighboring planets and even distant galaxies billions of light years away.
Filed under: Science
Via: Space
Source: Thirty Meter Telescope
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Ryanair now lets you tweet it for real-time flight updates
When budget airline Ryanair finally launched its first Twitter account, many users wondered if they’ve finally have an official way to vent their frustrations via social media. Although the company does use @Ryanair to improve customer service, it only serves as a way to update followers, not to interact with them. However, following today’s launch of @RyanairFlights, Ryanair has started to engage a little bit more, but only with customers who are interested in receiving real-time flight updates. The automated service asks you to follow the new account and then send it the flight number you want updates for (eg FR102). Ryanair then gets back to you with the status of that particular flight, providing scheduled departure and arrival times, and news of whether it landed early or not. Luckily, you don’t have to endure that perky ‘on time’ jingle if it does.
Filed under: Transportation, Internet
Via: Ryanair
Source: @RyanairFlights
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Facebook isn’t planning to monetize Whatsapp just yet
Whatsapp has always had a pretty low-key business model: your first year on the service is free, and every year beyond that’ll cost you a whopping $1. Now that the ink is dry on its $22ish billion buyout deal with Facebook, is the social juggernaut planning to change things up? Maybe, but according to a new report from Reuters, CEO/chief hacker Mark Zuckerberg isn’t planning to try and make more money off the incredibly popular app in the short term. Makes sense: after all, Whatsapp currently has well over half a billion people using it each month, thanks in part to the company’s no-nonsense way of making money. There are no obnoxious ads to be found, no sponsored deals — just a simple, functional way to communicate that runs on nearly any device with a processor and a screen. An attempt to shoehorn in-app purchases or paid services into the mix might only serve to alienate some of Whatsapp’s most devoted users… not to mention trigger weeks and weeks worth of meandering opinion pieces. Ugh.
Source: Reuters
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HTC announces high-end, waterproof selfie-centered Desire EYE
HTC on Thursday announced its latest Android, the selfie-centric Desire EYE. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, the device features a 5.2-inch HD display, and a two-tone plastic unibody shell. The standout selling point, however, is the pair of 13-megapixel cameras and its suite of software. Yes, this is the phone that’s designed for today’s growing narcissistic culture.
Key details in the camera experience include a dedicated button, a pair of warm dual-LED flashes, smile capture, still capture, voice commands, and more. HTC wants to make it easier than ever to capture fun and momentous occasions.
Another tidbit of note include waterproof capability; it’s safe to submerge up to 1 meter for 30 minutes.
The Desire EYE will be offered in the United States as an exclusive device for AT&T. Pricing and exact availability is not yet known.
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HTC streches beyond smartphones with $200 RE Camera
New camera signals a wider move to embrace the Android and iOS platforms
As part of yesterday’s announcement of the Desire EYE, HTC also introduced its portable camera, the RE Camera. Sporting a form factor that closely resembles an asthma inhaler and periscope hybrid, the device features a 16-megapixel SONY sensor with a 146-degree wide angle lens. Designed to capture both video and still images, it can go it alone or pair with Android and iOS smartphones.
Control your RE camera remotely with your iPhone or Android phone. The RE App is both a content browser and live viewfinder which mirrors what RE is seeing. After initial device pairing, all you do is launch the app, and all of your photos and videos are instantly available on your phone.
Features include slow motion, time-lapse, cinematic effects, and live streaming to your mobile phone. At $199 the HTC RE Camera doesn’t come cheap; it enters a space largely occupied by GoPro. But, with accessories (bike mounts, backpack clips, etc), it’s rather versatile. Toss in waterproof capability and we like the direction HTC is headed.
Other hardware details include 32MB ROM, 256MB RAM with microSD expansion, Bluetooth connectivity, microUSB, and Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n). The 820mAh battery is rated to handle 100 minutes of continuous HD video recording or 1,200 photos.
The RE Camera is expected to launch in a variety of colors later this month and will be offered in Best Buy, Amazon, and other retailers. AT&T is among the first carriers to offer support as well.
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Take a look inside the cockpit of DARPA’s self-driving tank
You’ve seen what DARPA’s slimmer, lighter tanks of the future could look like and how they could evade RPGs — now, you’ll also see what’s inside the high-tech war vehicle. As you’d expect, DARPA plans to design an advanced cockpit to go with the advanced tank, with a huge HD display and lots of automated elements. Automation’s key to making the design work, since the Ground-X Vehicle Technology project aims to (1) reduce the number of people needed to operate a tank, (2) lower the pilot’s workload and (3) make it easy to operate even for those with minimal training.
In the video below, you’ll see a bunch of features DARPA’s planning to include, such as a path planning and terrain classification system that show drivers the best route to take, as well as sensors that can track allies and enemies on the screen. The tank will also feature a full autopilot mode for when their operators need to take it slow even just for a bit.
Filed under: Misc
Source: Twitter
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Twitter’s head of news leaves after just a year in the job
Though Twitter is now a huge part of the news cycle, it’s still figuring out how to handle it internally. Vivian Schiller has just stepped down as the head of news there, almost exactly a year after she took the gig. Having worked at NBC, the New York Times and CNN, Schiller was brought on to help the social network foster ties with major news outlets. She announced her resignation in (of course) a series of tweets, and Twitter broke the news to its employees in a memo obtained by Re/Code. The document was full of praise for Schiller, citing numerous new media partnerships and Dataminr integration under her stewardship. It also revealed that the resignation came about after Twitter merged its news, government and election teams. The newly formed division will now be led by Elections and Government head Adam Sharp.
1/3 Stepping down from Twitter so new global media lead @katies can reorganize as she sees fit. Wish everyone at twitter nothing but best.
– Vivian Schiller (@vivian) October 8, 2014
Filed under: Software
Source: Reuters, Vivian Schiller (Twitter)
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Final’s credit card tackles security with unique numbers for each retailer
While newfangled credit cards like Coin and Plastc aim to cut down on wallet clutter by loading up all of your payment methods in one place, another option is taking aim at security. It’s called Final, and the chip & PIN card serves up a unique number to every place you shop or a “disposable” set of digits for one-time use. So when the next Target or Home Depot breach happens, you’ll only have to deactivate the number assigned to those places rather than go through the hassle with your bank. You can easily deactivate numbers when a subscription has run its course, and set monthly limits so you’re alerted when someone tries to go over that amount or that “free trial” runs out. When shopping online, there’s a browser extension that quickly generates new numbers and populates the info fields automatically. What about mobile payments? Final plays nice with that digital wallet too, and as you might expect, a online portal offers access to spending info so that you can set goals and keep an eye on things. The company is looking to launch its beta in the first quarter of 2015, and if you’re looking to opt in, you can sign up for early access via the source link down below.
Filed under: Misc
Source: Final
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Accessory of the Day: HTC One M8 rechargeable power case $17.99
The HTC One M8 is a powerful device and one of the better handsets we’ve tried as of late. With its popularity on the rise, some One M8 power-users have begun seeking out additional battery support. If you, like them, are looking for a solution that doesn’t tether you to a cord and doesn’t require carrying around additional pieces, this Rechargeable Power Case may be what you’re looking for. Designed for a seamless fit, this ultra-thin case is light and convenient. With its built-in 3200mah battery, kickstand support, and LED power indicators, it’s going to be difficult to find a better option for just $17.99 (Prime eligible).
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AIVAnet 