Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com Download Squad http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/%SiteURL%/media/feedlogo.gif Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Twitter apps now have people search, thanks to a new API]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/twitter-apps-now-have-people-search-thanks-to-a-new-api/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/twitter-apps-now-have-people-search-thanks-to-a-new-api/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/twitter-apps-now-have-people-search-thanks-to-a-new-api/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Third-party Twitter apps have access to nearly all of Twitter's functions. Even the new lists feature and the new retweet format can be supported by any ambitious developer. It's sort of strange then, that Twitter's people search is just now getting an API.

Now that this missing API is finally here, the ability to search for users should be popping up in your favorite Twitter program very soon. "Find people" on Twitter's site works by search both name and username, which is something apps couldn't achieve with the (admittedly very handy) "go to user " function.

If you're a curious developer, go check out the official announcement on Twitter's API announcements list.

Twitter apps now have people search, thanks to a new API originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>APIpeople searchPeopleSearchsearchtwitterTue, 17 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[A list of dumb things to check]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/a-list-of-dumb-things-to-check/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/a-list-of-dumb-things-to-check/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/17/a-list-of-dumb-things-to-check/#commentsFiled under: , ,

a list of dumb things to checkWe've all been there; we've got a problem with our server, laptop, PC, website, or blog, and have tried to solve it for hours with no success. At some point, we reach that point where we're absolutely certain that it's just some dumb thing that we're overlooking or forgetting to check. If you've ever found yourself in that situation, you'll probably want to bookmark a list of dumb things to check.

It's a list of (now 36) stupid things to check that you may have overlooked, compiled by Tom Limoncelli with input from members of the SAGE-Members mailing list. For anyone that hasn't found themselves in this situation, it will seem like a ridiculous concept. But for those of you out there that have been there, I bet you're thinking "awesome" like I am.

So, what's missing from the list? What's your best troubleshooting tip? Let us know in the comments.

A list of dumb things to check originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blogdumb thingdumb thingsdumb-thingdumb-thingsDumbThingDumbThingspcserverstupid thingsstupid-thingsStupidThingstom limoncellitom-limoncelliTomLimoncellitroubleshootingwebsiteTue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Kiosk mode added in Chromium nightly build]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/kiosk-mode-added-in-chromium-nightly-build/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/kiosk-mode-added-in-chromium-nightly-build/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/12/kiosk-mode-added-in-chromium-nightly-build/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Developers have a number of features they still want implemented in Google Chrome. In a recent nightly build of Chromium, one that I've seen requested numerous times on the official mailing lists has finally landed.

Kiosk mode has arrived in Chromium, though it's an awful lot like full screen mode. In fact, Mohamed Mansour says as much in his note on the source: "Kiosk mode will just hide the status bar and initially set it as full screen. "

You're left to your new tab page and bookmarks bar to navigate. As in full screen mode, control-L doesn't bring up an address bar, nor does hovering near the top edge of the browser. That's something I'd like to see addressed in future builds.

If you've been waiting to see what kiosk mode in Chrome would look like, grab a current build from the Chromium server and append the --kiosk command line switch.

Kiosk mode added in Chromium nightly build originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>chromiumgoogle chromeGoogleChromekiosk modeKioskModeThu, 12 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Tutorial9 offering free icon sets, Wordpress and Tumblr themes]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/10/tutorial9-offering-free-icon-sets-wordpress-and-tumblr-themes/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/10/tutorial9-offering-free-icon-sets-wordpress-and-tumblr-themes/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/10/tutorial9-offering-free-icon-sets-wordpress-and-tumblr-themes/#commentsFiled under: ,


Freebie downloads are always welcome. By a happy coincidence, Tutorial9 is offering a 25Mb download until November 26th, 2009 which contains four Wordpress themes, three Tumblr themes, and a whole slew of icons.

Better still, the whole package can be used for commercial purposes. There's plenty of good quality stuff inside, from the grungy sticker icons above to the clean, simple designs WP themes like Home Office and Business.

The set even includes a half dozen free vectors from GoMedia's Arsenal and a discount code for 10% further purchases.

Grab the download and tuck it away in your design goodies stash - you never know when a good free resource might come in handy!

Tutorial9 offering free icon sets, Wordpress and Tumblr themes originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>freeiconstumblrweb designWebDesignwordpressTue, 10 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Mobile Minute: Open GL and Flash support coming soon to your Blackberry]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/10/dont-forget-the-blackberry-open-gl-and-flash-support-coming-so/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/10/dont-forget-the-blackberry-open-gl-and-flash-support-coming-so/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/10/dont-forget-the-blackberry-open-gl-and-flash-support-coming-so/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Not being pretty and white, nor slender, shiny and fashionable, the BlackBerry devices don't get as much attention as its SoCal sister the iPhone.

But that doesn't mean the clever folks over at RIM aren't busy developing and releasing exciting new technologies for their latest OS 5.0 devices! You just don't hear about them quite so often, which I hope to rectify with this little bit of news. As covered by our clever cousins over at Engadget, you can expect the following additions and changes to soon become available:
  • Open GL ES support -- this is the big one. This is the single change which will see the BlackBerry shift away from the black-straight-edged-suits and more towards the cool-chic-students. The developer kit is already out, so games makers should really get on to that right now...!
  • Extensive Adobe technology support -- not only will we be seeing great Flash support (as covered by Engadget Mobile previously), there will also be more integration with rest of the Adobe Creative Suite.
  • And much more -- the BlackBerry Payment Service, Theme Studio, and Advertising Service will all make an appearance at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010.
These changes should cover all Storm and Curve owners, along with anyone that's lucky enough to own a Storm2!

So what does the iPhone do that the BlackBerry devices don't?

Does RIM really have to release a white-plastic-and-aluminum BlackBerry...?

Mobile Minute: Open GL and Flash support coming soon to your Blackberry originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blackberryflashiphoneopenglesRIMTue, 10 Nov 2009 07:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Unreal Engine developer kit now freely downloadable]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/unreal-engine-developer-kit-now-freely-downloadable/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/unreal-engine-developer-kit-now-freely-downloadable/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/unreal-engine-developer-kit-now-freely-downloadable/#commentsFiled under: ,

In BIG news -- really, this is the kind of thing that could change the landscape of casual and indie games for ever (and for good!) -- the Unreal Developer Kit (UDK) is now available from Nvidia.

The Unreal Engine has historically been very hard to get your hands on with large license fees and other barriers to entry. And now, just like that, it's being made freely available to everyone. Whether for educational or non-commercial purposes, or to make your own commercial game, you can now use the UDK and get started with the fun bit -- the game creation -- immediately.

The catch? For non-commercial purposes: there is none. Students and those of you that are quietly working away on the next Big Thing in a garage or basement somewhere -- REJOICE!

For commercial developers: it'll cost you 25% of your royalty on any revenue revenue over $5,000 (see the full licensing details for more info).

And for everyone else -- the gamers! -- be ready for a lot more Time-Waster games powered by the Unreal Engine in the next few months!

Continue reading Unreal Engine developer kit now freely downloadable

Unreal Engine developer kit now freely downloadable originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gamesnvidiaunreal engineUnrealEngineFri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Facebook Chat gets XMPP, catches up with AIM, Google Talk and MSN]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/facebook-chat-gets-xmpp-catches-up-with-aim-google-talk-and-ms/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/facebook-chat-gets-xmpp-catches-up-with-aim-google-talk-and-ms/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/06/facebook-chat-gets-xmpp-catches-up-with-aim-google-talk-and-ms/#commentsFiled under: ,

Facebook Chat has been a bit slow to catch on. Since it's been relegated to being opened from the web in a Facebook Tab, it hasn't been able to compete with chat services that have their own dedicated clients, like AIM, MSN and Yahoo. Although some third-party apps - like Adium - have made the extra effort to support Facebook Chat, it's not widespread. That's about to change, though, when Facebook adopts XMPP and becomes compatible with tons of existing chat apps.

XMPP is most famous as the protocol behind Google Talk. That means any chat program that currently includes Google Talk will be able to include Facebook Chat too. Facebook, like Google, is starting out in the chat market with the advantage of huge pre-existing contact lists - for Google, it was your Gmail contacts, and for Facebook it's, well, Facebook. If you've ever wished you could just automatically add all of your Facebook buddies to your favorite IM program, you're in for a treat.

[via GigaOM]

Facebook Chat gets XMPP, catches up with AIM, Google Talk and MSN originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>AIMchatfacebookgoogle talkGoogleTalkIMjabberxmppFri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Flickr collects cool photo apps in its new App Garden]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/04/flickr-collects-cool-photo-apps-in-its-new-app-garden/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/04/flickr-collects-cool-photo-apps-in-its-new-app-garden/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/04/flickr-collects-cool-photo-apps-in-its-new-app-garden/#commentsFiled under: ,

Flickr has an open and very powerful API that's been around since 2004. Five years later, developers have built an enormous number of great apps and cool toys for Flickr. Now you can browse and discover Flickr apps in one central location, the new App Garden. Apps in the garden range from stats to importing/exporting to integration with other sites.

Although Flickr has chosen some featured apps to display prominently on the front page, any developer can submit to the App Garden. The Garden itself isn't the only place apps are being promoted around Flickr. On each photo page, along with the info you regularly see, you'll now see which app the photographer used to upload the image - as long as it's an app has already been submitted and listed by Flickr. If you're a developer, you have plenty of incentive to submit your app, and if you're a Flickr power user, you'll definitely want to check out what's already been posted.

[via Flickr Blog]

Flickr collects cool photo apps in its new App Garden originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>apiappsdeveloperexportflickruploadWed, 04 Nov 2009 07:30:00 EST<![CDATA[NewsGator gives full control of FeedDemon back to developer]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/01/feeddemon-no-longer-owned-by-newsgator/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/01/feeddemon-no-longer-owned-by-newsgator/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/11/01/feeddemon-no-longer-owned-by-newsgator/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Nick Bradbury InterviewThe story of how NewsGator attempted to corner the market on consumer RSS has taken another strange turn. In an interview with Steven Hodson published on Hodson's Shooting at Bubbles site, Bradbury admits that he is no longer employed by NewsGator, but has retained the full rights to his popular FeedDemon RSS reader. NewsGator continues to offer FeedDemon, and the application is still NewsGator-branded, but the clear implication here is that NewsGator no longer owns the rights to the most popular native Windows RSS feed reader.

It's no secret that NewsGator almost single-minded focus on capturing the lucrative enterprise market allowed its efforts in the consumer space to falter, ultimately leading to NewsGator shutting down their once-popular NewsGator Online feed reader, having conceded the online feed reader battle to Google's upstart Google Reader, which has iterated faster, and performing better than NewsGator's online reader for a few years.

It's unfortunate that NewsGator has given up on this market. While it's certainly true that Google has a powerful and successful product on its hands, there is certainly room in the RSS space for more than one dedicated company. What this means for FeedDemon's Mac equivalent, NetNewsWire remains to be seen, but since NewsGator's current push for more enterprise business relies on the talents of Brent Simmons, NetNewsWire will likely remain a NewsGator property for the foreseeable future.

Whether that is good news or not is anyone's guess.

UPDATE: The previous headline of this post turned out to be incorrect, as Nick Bradbury points out in the comments. The relationship between FeedDemon, NewsGator and Bradbury is a bit confusing, but what he said in the interview was this: "I'm no longer employed by NewsGator. FeedDemon remains a NewsGator-branded product, but I'm 100% in charge of it now, and I'm once again an indie developer. FeedDemon is my sole focus - and my sole source of income." So, NewsGator owns FeedDemon, Bradbury works on FeedDemon, but Bradbury does not work FOR NewsGator any longer.

Bradbury also pointed us to a post by NewsGator's Greg Reinacker, explaining more about where things stand.

NewsGator gives full control of FeedDemon back to developer originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bradburybrent simmonsbrent-simmonsBrentSimmonsfeeddemonnewsgatorrssrss readerRssReaderSun, 01 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Adobe AIR 2.0 will hog less memory and add multitouch support]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/30/adobe-air-2-0-hogs-less-memory-and-adds-multitouch-support/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/30/adobe-air-2-0-hogs-less-memory-and-adds-multitouch-support/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/30/adobe-air-2-0-hogs-less-memory-and-adds-multitouch-support/#commentsFiled under: ,

If you use Adobe AIR apps on a regular basis, you have a lot to look forward to in AIR 2.0. The next version of Adobe's cross-platform app framework adds a bunch of little tweaks and a few major ones, including support for multitouch and gestures. Maybe even more importantly, AIR apps now won't suck up your CPU cycles and memory at such an absurd rate. A full list of upcoming features was just posted by AIR developer Chris Cantrell.

I've run into a lot of people who choose not use AIR apps because of their memory-hogging tendencies, and the improved performance in AIR 2 - depending on how improved it is - might go a long way toward getting more people to adopt the framework. Meanwhile, folks whose machines support multitouch and gestures will start to see new apps that take advantage of zooming, rotating and more. Other less-flashy features include audio recording and opening files in their default applications.

My favorite assessment of AIR comes from Tweetie developer Loren Brichter: "AIR apps are like modern day Java applets ... sure, they run on every platform. But they also suck on every platform." Hopefully, AIR 2.0 will prove him wrong. A beta is coming later this year, with a full release in early 2010.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Adobe AIR 2.0 will hog less memory and add multitouch support originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adobe airAdobeAirair 2.0Air2.0Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Google Wave will have an App Store too!]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/google-wave-will-have-an-app-store-too/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/google-wave-will-have-an-app-store-too/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/27/google-wave-will-have-an-app-store-too/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

In rather exciting (though perhaps predictable) news, Google has announced that there will be an official Wave App Store!

There are still very few people using Wave, but hopefully you've all watched the Wave technology demo and been suitably impressed, or even dribbled a little if you're like me.

I'm sure as the codebase solidifies and bugs are ironed out, we'll begin to see a lot more invites, and eventually a public beta. With the Google Wave App store announced, I would expect to see some more developers jump on the bandwagon too -- perhaps jumping ship (or at least splitting their attention) from the iPhone App Store.

It would seem that the industry -- the service, web application and game sectors -- are starting to realise the power of user-generated and small-developer-generated content. Gone are the days of Windows or Space Invaders being developed in someone's garage or basement. But in its place, we have more easily-extensible and open frameworks than ever before. We can expect to see very exciting things from Wave and its App Store.

[via theNextWeb]

Google Wave will have an App Store too! originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>app storeAppStoregoogle waveGoogleWaveTue, 27 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Mockflow: web-based, real-time, collaborative wireframing]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/mockflow-web-based-real-time-collaborative-wireframing/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/mockflow-web-based-real-time-collaborative-wireframing/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/mockflow-web-based-real-time-collaborative-wireframing/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Mockflow: a web-based, real-time, collaborative wireframing tool

A key part of interface design is an exercise known as "wireframing." In this design phase, elements of an interface are blocked out roughly to show relative placement, interaction, and functionality. It is a rapid way to talk through functional requirements of a project and get buy-in from stakeholders without having to waste a lot of time on visual design that won't remain in a finished product.

Mockflow is a flash-based, online, collaborative wireframing tool for Web and Software designers. It contains a fairly complete set of wireframe elements and icons for use in your wireframe with flexible customizability of all the elements. The killer app of the tool is it's ability to collaborate in real-time with other team members online. Very, very useful for distributed teams.

I tend to use Adobe Fireworks for all my wireframing (and everything else) but a coworker pointed me toward this tool and it captured my attention. I find flash-based tools distasteful, they always feel slow to me, but this one was simple enough, with enough features to make it compelling to use. Definitely the right tool for the right situation.

The basic version is free, but ad supported and you are limited to two collaborators. Upgrading (introductory price of $49 / year) grants you unlimited collaborators and projects, is ad-free, and gives you 500 MB of storage. Definitely worth a look for distributed Web teams.

Mockflow: web-based, real-time, collaborative wireframing originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>designmockflowwireframeWed, 21 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Adobe Browserlab open for business]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/adobe-browserlab-open-for-business/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/adobe-browserlab-open-for-business/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/21/adobe-browserlab-open-for-business/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Adobe Browserlab
Several months ago Jay pointed to Browserlab, a very useful new service for Web developers from Adobe. Browserlab allows you to view a Web page in multiple versions of most of the latest browsers. Since cross browser testing is perhaps the most painful part of Web development, any service that aids in this task is very welcome. The service is now accepting new users, and is very cool.

The flash-based tool will render a page in recent versions of the most used browsers, and will let you view an image of the rendered page one at a time, side by side (2-up view) or my personal favorite, onion skin view, which stacks two images from two different browsers on top of each other and gives you a slider to adjust translucency back and forth so you can see just how horribly Internet Explorer renders your page elements relative to every other modern browser.

The service is currently free and I expect that I will be using it quite heavily.

At the time of writing, the supported browsers are:
  • Firefox 2.0 - Windows XP - version 2.0.0.18
  • Firefox 3.0 - Windows XP - version 3.0.4
  • Internet Explorer 6.0 - Windows XP - version 6.0.3790.3959
  • Internet Explorer 7.0 - Windows XP - version 7.0.5730
  • Internet Explorer 8.0 - Windows XP - version 8.0.6001.18702
  • Safari 3.0 - OS X - version 3.2.3
  • Safari 4.0 - OS X - version 4.0.3
  • Firefox 2.0 - OS X - version 2.0.0.18
  • Firefox 3.0 - OS X - version 3.0.4


Adobe Browserlab open for business originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adobebrowserlabbrowsersWed, 21 Oct 2009 12:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Troubleshooting with your Teddy Bear]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/16/troubleshooting-with-your-teddy-bear/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/16/troubleshooting-with-your-teddy-bear/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/16/troubleshooting-with-your-teddy-bear/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

My buddy Dave once shared with me a bit of computing wisdom which I've since found invaluable.

"Proper troubleshooting requires a Teddy Bear."

As it was told to me -- long ago in a university computer lab not so far away -- there was a sysadmin who became frustrated with the number of questions he was asked by student developers. It wasn't that the questions were invalid, or that the students weren't thinking them through. Rather, his frustration was with questions which found their own answers.

Students seeking his help would begin to explain the problem they were working on. More often than not, they wouldn't finish explaining before having an "Aha!" moments; That tiny moment of clarity every developer, admin or desktop analyst seeks as a part of their job.

Being forced to explain the problem had some effect which thinking about the problem alone didn't. How can you achieve the same mind-altered state without bugging the sysadmin, or taking a handful of Adderol and Xanaax*?

The weary sysadmin found a brilliant solution. He attached a teddy bear to his desk, and forced anyone who wanted to ask him a question to address the bear and explain the problem.

So, the next time you're halfway through asking a collegue a question and find yourself saying, "Wait, I think I just got it, never mind!", remember to thank them for being your teddy bear.

* Download Squad does not condone the abuse of Adderol, Xanaax or any other prescription drugs. Just sayin'.

Troubleshooting with your Teddy Bear originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>coolgeekteddy bearTeddyBeartrickstricks-of-the-tradetroubleshootingFri, 16 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Firefly is the game you control with a candle. Wait, what?]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/16/firefly-is-the-game-you-control-with-a-candle-wait-what/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/16/firefly-is-the-game-you-control-with-a-candle-wait-what/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/16/firefly-is-the-game-you-control-with-a-candle-wait-what/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

I've read about using candles as a replacement for your Wii's sensor bar before, but what about the other end of the gaming input equation?

Say what? The controller. How about using the candle as a controller?

Who gives a crap if there's a slight risk of spilling a little hot wax on your hand during game play? No real man cares, that's for sure. In fact, the possibility of sustaining minor burns should make you want to play all the more.

Here's the gist of the game: a firefly has lost his luminescence. Since the little bug is attracted to light, you guide him through a series of caverns using a candle - which is tracked by your webcam. The game features awesome low-fi, pixelated graphics and original ambient music - also created by the developer.

This baby may never hit store shelves, but that wasn't the goal anyway. From the description on the YouTube page, the aim was "to show that you can use quite a medieval tool to control a game, and one that you can get for 35636575 times cheaper than Wiimote."

I don't know about you, but I'd like to see this released just so I can phone EB and ask them if they have any candles in stock. Either that, or I'll start keeping bees so I can make my own controllers.

[via Geek.com]

Firefly is the game you control with a candle. Wait, what? originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Frustrated EEEUbuntu dev says "Ubuntu sucks."]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/16/frustrated-eeeubuntu-dev-says-ubuntu-sucks/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/16/frustrated-eeeubuntu-dev-says-ubuntu-sucks/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/16/frustrated-eeeubuntu-dev-says-ubuntu-sucks/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Ubuntu certainly has its fans - perhaps more than any other Linux distro. One person you can rest assured isn't part of that group: EEEUbuntu developer Andrew Wyatt. In case you aren't familiar with the project, EEEUbuntu is a customized Linux distro tailored to Asus' line of netbooks.

It was a SourceForge community choice award winner this year - for best new project. Now, however, it looks as though the distribution's future may be in jeopardy. On his personal blog, Wyatt expresses his frustration at receiving blame for problems actually caused by things like wonky Intel video drivers and kernel bugs.

Things which he feels are the result of carelessness of Ubuntu developers. "...They missed something as stupid as the ntel tiling kernel bug which caused every Intel card out there to crawl during any OpenGL function. There is no excuse for their release of alpha grade drivers and less than alpha grade kernel code into their release distribution," Wyatt writes.

He also hits on an issue that has given me grief in the past on multiple laptops - knowing what to do when you shut the lid. "Who needs suspend anyway, not like its a useful feature and all on an ultraportable." If it bothers me, I can certainly see how it would vex someone who develops a Ubuntu-based OS.

In closing his post, Wyatt gets in one last parting shot: "Maybe I should buy a copy of Windows 7, I hear that it actually works. How can we expect non-techical users to use this pile of garbage that is 'Linux'?"

Ouch.

[via ITWire]

Frustrated EEEUbuntu dev says "Ubuntu sucks." originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>canonicaleeeeeeubuntulinuxubuntuFri, 16 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Wolfram Alpha gets an iPhone app and a developer API]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/15/wolfram-alpha-gets-an-iphone-app-and-a-developer-api/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/15/wolfram-alpha-gets-an-iphone-app-and-a-developer-api/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/15/wolfram-alpha-gets-an-iphone-app-and-a-developer-api/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Wolfram Alpha was hyped as better than Google for finding certain info, especially in the areas of math and science computation, but the hype died down a bit when people realized that it was finicky and a bit tricky to use. Wolfram Alpha hasn't gone away, though. In fact, they've just announced an API for developers and a new iPhone app. It's quite possible that third-party applications harnessing the power of Wolfram Alpha might prove more popular than the engine itself.

The iPhone app, due to be released soon, is sort of a demonstration of what developers can do with the API. It should be a big improvement on the iPhone-optimized version of the Wolfram Alpha site. It will be interesting to see what uses developers find for Wolfram Alpha, because the problem with the site is that it requires more specific, more complex search queries than most users are going to bother with. Third-party apps could narrow those queries down, and direct users toward some of the things Wolfram Alpha does really well.

[via Mashable]

Wolfram Alpha gets an iPhone app and a developer API originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>APIdeveloperiphonesearchwolfram alphaWolframAlphaThu, 15 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[RSS and SimplePie makes for PHP developer heaven]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/rss-and-simplepie-makes-for-php-developer-heaven/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/rss-and-simplepie-makes-for-php-developer-heaven/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/10/rss-and-simplepie-makes-for-php-developer-heaven/#commentsFiled under: ,

This is definitely one for the developers amongst you, but if you're developing an application in PHP and need to handle the reading of RSS feeds, SimplePie is a god-send. Some folks will point you in the direction of PHP5's built-in SimpleXML module, however it's highly intolerant of malformed XML - and certainly doesn't have any extra features such as caching that you get with SimplePie.

If you're looking for an easy way to work with RSS or Atom feeds, SimplePie is both easy to implement - and thoroughly documented to help you build on it. I've used SimplePie in a number of projects in the last year - from multi-feed collation to simply showing a list of recent blog posts in a sidebar - and every time I use it I find myself grinning like a cheshire cat at the amount of time it has saved me.

SimplePie is available under the BSD licence for your hacking pleasure, and the developers are currently seeking feedback for version 2!

RSS and SimplePie makes for PHP developer heaven originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Open SourceOpenSourceRSSXMLSat, 10 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Eolas v. Everyone you've ever heard of]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/06/eolas-v-everyone-youve-ever-heard-of/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/06/eolas-v-everyone-youve-ever-heard-of/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/06/eolas-v-everyone-youve-ever-heard-of/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,


Tireless patent troll Intellectual Property holder Eolas has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against, well.. nearly everyone. The issue at hand deals with two patents in Eolas' possession -- the first of which was the subject of a successful lawsuit against Microsoft back in 2004.

The second patent, what Eolas refers to as "a continuation of the '906 patent" claims to hold as the sole intellectual property of Eolas, "fully-interactive embedded applications [...] through the use of plug-in and AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and XML) web development techniques." The second patent is so far untested in court -- and ostensibly covers more popular websites than you can shake a knock-off Louis Vuitton handbag at.

I haven't had time to delve into the language of the patent, but this reeks of utter nonsense to me so far. In my layman's oppinion, Eolas may have made a crucial mistake however, taking aim at so many large targets at once -- with one untested patent, and another which Microsoft already came rather close to beating.

Take the leap to read the whole extortion demand press release, and see the enormous list of publicly traded web firms included.

Continue reading Eolas v. Everyone you've ever heard of

Eolas v. Everyone you've ever heard of originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ajaxeolaspatentpluginstrollweb browserweb devWebBrowserWebDevTue, 06 Oct 2009 11:15:00 EST<![CDATA[Adobe Flash CS5 converts Flash to iPhone apps]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/06/adobe-flash-cs5-converts-flash-to-iphone-apps/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/06/adobe-flash-cs5-converts-flash-to-iphone-apps/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/10/06/adobe-flash-cs5-converts-flash-to-iphone-apps/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Flash is coming to the iPhone! Well, sort of. Adobe is showing off a new feature of Flash CS5 Professional that will convert Flash/Actionscript into iPhone apps. The public beta of CS5 with Flash Platform is due out later this year, but for now, you can test out some iPhone games that were created with the new system. For comparison, check out the puzzle game Chroma Circuit on the web and then on the iPhone.

This is good news for Flash developers who want to get their games into the App Store without having to write iPhone-native apps themselves, especially because it allows them to reuse the same code on the web or on Flash-friendly mobile platforms. This might mean that we'll see some of our favorite Flash time-wasters on the iPhone, too. There's also the possibility that the App Store will be flooded with the same awful Flash games that plague the web now. Developing a lame Flash game for the web doesn't have the same $99 pricetag that signing up for the iPhone developer program does, though, so that might keep the quality of iPhone game offerings from taking a huge dive.

Adobe Flash CS5 converts Flash to iPhone apps originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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