An alternative to trick-or-treating every Halloween is to have kids participate in a scavenger hunt. The activity provides the same excitement and still allows you to be with your kids while they participate. A scavenger hunt can be easily organized – here are some steps in preparing for a Halloween scavenger hunt:
Two wonderful, wonderful things converge! Minecraft Forum's rushone2009 introduces the Bladecraft Project, a melding of Blade Runner and Minecraft. The current texture pack and map downloads contain no adventure or goal, just exploring and discovering movie references. Download here.
In case you've been living under a rock for the last couple of years let me begin by explaining who banksy is. Bansky, is the pseudonym of one of the most popular street artists in the world. banksy has put his work up in various major locations in the around the world. this Includes places like on the isreal/palestine wall, Goverment buildings, inside virgin records stores, and has even managed to slip his work into the lourve and many other major muesems (by gluing his paintings to the wall...
With the globally rampant use of such social networking platforms as Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare, the issue of privacy has become a prevalent concern for many. And for good reason—there's the violation of Facebook employing user names in ads, the Etsy slip-up, and of course, the everyman act of recklessly sharing too much information via common social media outlets: a night of drinking results in morning after embarrassment, or worst case scenario, sloppy Facebook posts and tweets resul...
There is a wonderful site that just launched with the youth sports community in mind. The site is http://YouthSportTravel.com , a collaboration of youth sports coaches and a major online travel brand. They offer arguably the best prices on hotel and motel rooms anywhere. For proof, I tested a number of locations with www.hotel.com, Expedia and Travelocity in comparison with YouthSportTravel and in each case; YouthSportTravel was equal to or cheaper than the competition. But this is not all th...
Lord of the Rings Online, one of the most popular and recognizable MMOs out there, is now Free to Play. http://www.lotro.com/betasignup/
Lock picking is defined by locksmiths as "the art of opening a lock without the key". There's many ways to accomplish this, but I'm specifically interested in using a lock pick set. Since locks vary in shapes and size, it's better to stick with just one kind of lock at first. Most locks are based on fairly similar concepts, so sharing methods across locks is possible.
Here's a nasty little Null Byte. An open redirect vulnerability was found in both Facebook and Google that could allow hackers to steal user credentials via phishing. This also potentially allows redirects to malicious sites that exploit other vulnerabilities in your OS or browser. This could even get your computer flooded with spam, and these holes have been known about for over a month.
If you’re unfamiliar with League of Legends, you’re either not into PC gaming or you haven’t spent much time on the internet. Riot Games officially released League almost two years ago, and since then it’s become a huge hit. In fact, the Santa Monica based company recently announced that the DOTA inspired game has 15 million registered users, 4 million unique logins each month, and 500,000 people playing the game at any given moment.
Gone are the days when you had to carry a clunky DynaTAC to make phone calls, pocket phone book for you contact list, Sony Discman for your tunes, and wallet for you cash and credit cards. Today, all you need is your smartphone. To be specific, Google's Nexus S 4G on Sprint.
Tower defense games have taught us little. We already knew that defending castles from baddies was fun and that legions of weenies are the key to success in most real-time strategy situations. What other insights have they to offer?
Minecraft is the most basic and barren open sandbox building game. There are a limited number of materials and recipes to craft. But with these few building blocks, people have been able to creatively build some amazing structures and cities. There is a physical limitation, but the beauty of the game is turning that limitation into a strength.
By now, you probably know that your iPhone secretly tracks and stores the locations you've visited in a backup folder on your computer's hard drive. The files are unencrypted, which means anyone with access to your computer or device can retrieve the information, which is downright scary. But Pete Warden and Alasdair Allan are making it fun with their iPhone Tracker application, which lets you map out everywhere you've been with your smartphone.
This article is going to talk about video and only about video. Why? Because video is very important for any size of business. Even small businesses can use video to promote themselves on the internet. And in the next few years, you’re going to see more and more businesses using video. Even now, I’m going to show you some articles that have been written on different websites talking about video and how small businesses can use them and how businesses need to use them now, especially to rank o...
Facebook's new Timeline feature has been rolling out gradually since its unveiling in September, but yesterday it finally became available to Facebookers everywhere. It's even available on your mobile device, too. Those who want to upgrade to the radical new profile design can do so by simple logging into their Facebook account and visiting the About Timeline page on Facebook.
Yes, you read the title correctly. GameStop has problems, and if you're lax in morals, you can take advantage of them for free games and cash. I'm bringing you all yet another exclusive Null Byte that falls into the fascinating category of life hacking.
As Google+ hums along, releasing new updates and unveiling new features every few days, Facebook seems to be in panic mode. Every week, they've been revealing new features that seem suspiciously similar to Google+.
Dead Island (PC, PS3, 360) had the worst launch of any game in recent memory. The wrong version of the game was released on PC, matchmaking was down for three days on PC, saves were deleted without notice making people start from scratch, and the Feminist Whore (a file found describing one of the character's skills) fiasco. The game just wasn't ready for release.
Difficulty Level: Moderate Photoshop Skills Photoshop isn't just for zapping zits and adding freaky colors to sunset pictures! You can use it for fun, altered-reality pictures, too. If you have a tripod and some friends, you can combine many exposures as separate layers and using layer masks, make one super cool image from many slightly cool images.
Dropbox continues to make headlines with their recent programming blunder which left the accounts of its 25 million customers wide open during a four-hour time span. During the duration, anyone in the world could access any Dropbox profile by typing in any password. And seeing as this wasn't the first security failure, everyone, including the most loyal users are considering dropping the Dropbox.
A century ago there wasn't much life available for quadriplegic people. Handicap accessibility was barely even a concept, and lacking medical technology kept any semblance of independence out of reach. Today those unfortunate enough to be paralyzed from the neck down have brighter prospects, but are still unable to participate in many activities. Video games are a great option for those who do not have the use of their legs, but for quadriplegics, the use of a standard controller is not an op...
L.A. Noire is the newest Rockstar (GTA4, Red Dead Redemption) game created by Team Bondi ( The Getaway). The game is set in the late 1940’s in Los Angeles. The main character, Phelps, is a war veteran rising through the ranks from police officer to detective. The game is presented in mini episodes (one case per episode) and flashbacks. Once you finish a case, you go straight to the next one. Having played four cases where the character moves from police officer to detective, here are my initi...
In 2007, Nintendo introduced the world to motion control video games with the Wii. Microsoft and Sony built on Nintendo's phenomenal success and released their own motion control products for the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 late in 2010: the Kinect and the Move. The Move is basically an improved Wiimote that looks like a sci-fi Harry Potter wand, but the Kinect just might be the most important video game peripheral of all time.
Two new and radically different ARGs (Alternate Reality Games) have burst into the news in the last week, and illustrate the very best of an innovative phenomenon: the commercial tie-in ARG, and the public service ARG.
Update: New Trailer (7/9/10) In July of 2008, Fawaz Al-Matrouk, director of "To Rest In Peace", brought me on to shoot his USC graduate thesis film. Two years, 3 cameras, and over 15,000 miles later, the film is in its last week of post, having completed our final color correction at Light Iron Digital in Culver City yesterday.
Working from home is already challenging. Add the threat of a cyberattack into the mix, and the situation gets even hairier.
Your iPhone's name matters more than you might think. It shows up when AirDropping files to other Apple devices, when keeping tabs on your devices' locations via Find My, and when syncing with your computer. While "Jake Peterson's iPhone" gets the job done, I'd rather give the phone I spend all my time with a proper name.
Snapchat has added three new features, letting you personalize your snaps more than ever. One of those is links, which was not allowed at all before. The other features allow for greater personalization of snaps, with both visual and auditory choices.
Have you been watching out for Sony's latest smartphone entry? If so, you're in luck. Best Buy announced today that pre-orders have begun for the Xperia XZ Premium. If you're someone who has been waiting for this day ... order, order, order!
With film being such a vital outlet and marketing tool for fashion, movie stars are either wearing the coolest and latest threads, or retro looks that are sure to make a comeback. I regularly see a cool jacket or pair of sneakers being worn by an actor in a movie I'm watching, and I just know those items would look great on me.
Unbeknownst to you, hundreds of retailers, shopping malls, coffee shops, and airports track and log your movements. Using sensors installed by retail analytics companies, businesses sniff out your smartphone's MAC address, a unique fixed identifier to your device, whenever your device interacts with their Wi-Fi hotspots.
Whether it's using precious data or wasting battery power, switching between Wi-Fi and cellular service on your Android device can be a hassle. If your Wi-Fi is off, you may not know about free hotspot networks in the area you're in, leading you to waste network data (which more than likely is not unlimited). If your Wi-Fi is on all of the time, this leads to quicker battery depletion. There are already a few Android apps, like Auto WiFi Toggler, that combat this problem, but they just period...
Now, I know what you're thinking... "I need an extra sexy coffee table that is like no other."
It's been a long journey for Netflix users. At first, it was a rough ride as Netflix struggled to find its place in the homes and hearts of movie watchers everywhere. Once monthly subscriptions bumped off the pay-per-rental charges, Netflix soared to great heights, known for their flat-fee unlimited rentals without due dates, late fees, or shipping and handling fees. And it was smooth sailing when streaming services were incorporated into monthly plans, with customers being able to rent DVDs ...
This week's 6-part series on Making Art on Your iOS Device comes to a close today with our last segment: a collection of useful apps for touring museums, galleries and street art. The apps below cover some of the world's greatest art meccas, so read on if you're planning an upcoming trip, if you live in one of the destinations listed below, or if you simply want to see what a faraway museum has to offer—from the comfort of your couch.
There are seemingly endless photography apps for the iPhone—it is perhaps one of the most popular arenas for application developers. We've covered a few in Giveaway Tuesdays, but nothing comprehensive.
Last week, I demonstrated how to go a little deeper into your Google+ profiles, photos, and introduced cross-posting. This week, I'm highlighting a bunch of different unofficial resources that have sprung up that will help improve your Google+ experience, and give you the latest updates on Google+ Photos.
Lori Nix is a photographer whose stunning work depicts curious scenes of danger and disaster: abandoned spaces, architecture in a state of extreme deterioration, natural calamities, and more. But the mysterious places she captures with her 8x10 large format camera aren't actual found locations—they're meticulously fabricated miniature dioramas.
A first hands look at the first chapter of the game. "When the wife of best-selling writer Alan Wake disappears on their vacation, his serach turns up pages from a thriller he doesn't remember writing. A dark presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls-"
Uh oh. Somebody screwed up big this time. It has recently been reported that Iraqi insurgents have used $26 software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. drones located in Middle East conflict zones. The drone (a remotely piloted aircraft) is considered one of the U.S. military's most sophisticated weapons. Apparently not sophisticated enough, however.
