omercrummery's blog

Chocomize personalized chocolate: giveaway and discount code

Okay, I know what you're thinking: chocolate on Download Squad? That's right! That's because Chocomize is one of the nerdiest ways to get chocolate online: it's a website where you customize your own bar using a multi-step process.

We've covered Chocomize before in our holiday gift guide, so when they reached out to us offering to do a giveaway, we really couldn't resist.

Chocomize is giving away ten gift certificates, each worth $50, for you to create your own customized chocolate. They sent us some pictures of their recent creations, which you can find in the gallery below.

Regardless of the giveaway, you can use the discount code switched to get 10% off any Chocomize order. The code is valid through April 20th - just in time for Easter!

To participate, simply leave a comment. Fine print is after the jump.

Gallery: Chocomize personalized chocolate

Continue reading Chocomize personalized chocolate: giveaway and discount code

Chocomize personalized chocolate: giveaway and discount code originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/giveaway-and-discount-code-chocomize-personalized-chocolate/

PEROT SYSTEMS PALM

Install the Windows Phone 7 NoDo update regardless of your carrier

Some of you who own Windows Phone 7 devices are still waiting for your pre-NoDo preparation update -- never mind NoDo itself. A few workarounds have been posted, but unfortunately they didn't work unless your carrier had completed testing and was ready to schedule the update.

Now, however, the Chevron WP7 team's Chris Walshie has delivered a handy little utility that will allow you to update any Windows Phone 7 device -- regardless of your carrier.

1. Download and install the Windows Phone Support Tool (x86 or x64) and the ChevronWP7 Updater (x86 or x64)
2. Launch ChevronWP7 Updater and select your language. If your language isn't listed, stop and do not update.
3. If were running WP7 build 7004 (you can verify in Zune) then run the updater twice.

Once the process completes, you should be able to copy and paste to your heart's content. Let's just hope all this update foolishness gets sorted out before we're supposed to receive Mango.

Install the Windows Phone 7 NoDo update regardless of your carrier originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/install-the-windows-phone-7-nodo-update-regardless-of-your-carri/

ITRON IRON MOUNTAIN INORATED IOMEGA

Elephant Quest is an addictive, deep platformer

When someone tells me about a "platformer", my first thought is that it's probably a simple game that mainly revolves around running and jumping around, with a minimal plot. [Play a Zelda game! -Ed]

Elephant Quest is one platformer that managed to prove me completely wrong. Yes, you do run and jump around, and you also shoot at stuff. But the game has much, much more going for it.

Basically, as you run, jump and shoot, you gain experience points and level up. Hitting Space brings you into an interface where you can convert your experience points into Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Dexterity points. Once you've "specialized" your points, you then get to pick what exact skills you'd like to enhance in each field. For example, you could use your dexterity to enhance your weapons or increase your swiftness.

The game is played in a huge maze; you go through rooms using doors, and there's a large map. As the name implies, there are quests you can take, too. For example, one quest had me searching all over the place for ten balloons.

The bottom line is that this is a surprisingly deep game that just might ensnare you for a good bit longer than you intended to play. Beware!

Elephant Quest is an addictive, deep platformer originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/25/elephant-quest-is-an-addictive-deep-platformer/

NETWORK APPLIANCE NETGEAR NCR

Doc Searls Would Like You To Join Him In The Intention Economy

Every day companies are spending gobs of money to earn and keep your attention. Advertisers are collecting heaps of information about you in the hopes of presenting you with more targeted advertisements: advertisements on which you'll want to click. Yet despite all of this information, advertising still pretty much sucks. It doesn't have to be this way. While marketers and advertising agencies strive to command your decisions in the "attention economy", long-time open source advocate Doc Searls puts forward a better idea in his new book, The Intention Economy. Rather than continue to allow vendors to blindly guess as to what we want, we should all be moving toward a new market equilibrium in which we consciously and directly signal our intentions to the market. Companies that respond to our intentions will reap larger profit, waste less money on dubious advertising initiatives, and enjoy real customer loyalty.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Z09s8iRp4Fg/

XILINX WESTERN DIGITAL VOLT INFORMATION SCIENCES

Researchers build optical transistor out of silicon, provide path to all-optical computing

The speed of light is the universal speed limit, so naturally, optical technologies appeal when trying to construct speedy computational devices. Fiber optics let us shoot data to and fro at top speed, but for the time being our CPUs still make their calculations using electronic transistors. Good news is, researchers from Purdue University have built an optical transistor out of silicon that can propagate logic signals -- meaning it can serve as an optical switch and push enough photons to drive two other transistors. It's constructed of a microring resonator situated next to one optical line that transmits the signal, and a second that heats the microring to change its resonant frequency. The microring then resonates at a specific frequency to interact with the light in the signal line in such a way that its output is drastically reduced and essentially shut off. Presto, an optical transistor is born. Before dreams of superfast photonic computers start dancing in your head, however, just know they won't be showing up anytime soon -- the power consumption of such transistors is far beyond their electronic counterparts due to the energy inefficient lasers that power them.

Researchers build optical transistor out of silicon, provide path to all-optical computing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/01/researchers-build-optical-transistor-out-of-silicon-provide-pat/

AMAZONCOM AMERICA MOVIL AMKOR TECHNOLOGY

iMore Picks of the Week for April 29, 2012

Every week the editors at iMore carefully select some of our favorite, most useful, most extraordinary apps, accessories, gadgets, and websites. This week's selections include a utility, a unique Twitter client, a classic video game, a social networking iPad app, a fun photography app for creating comics, and an addicting puzzle game.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/1H8NMaK7XS0/story01.htm

IRON MOUNTAIN INORATED IOMEGA INTUIT

US Cellular, Alltel Wireless team up to launch 'U Prepaid' service in Walmart stores

Good ol' Wally isn't a stranger when it comes to offering prepaid wireless goods within its shops, and now the retail giant's about to add yet another service to that carrier-packed inventory. Starting next month, US Cellular -- in partnership with Alltel Wireless -- will begin rolling out a new contract-free package dubbed "U Prepaid," which, naturally, is set to be backed by both of the aforementioned carrier's networks. The fresh U Prepaid deal will be making its way into "nearly" 500 Walmart stores across 18 US states, though there's no mention of which ones specifically. That being said, US Cellular and Alltel did announce the four devices coming at launch, including Samsung's Repp and Chrone along with the LG Attune / Exchange and Saber. In any case, now you know where to go if those recently announced plans from AT&T and Verizon aren't keeping a smile on your face.

Continue reading US Cellular, Alltel Wireless team up to launch 'U Prepaid' service in Walmart stores

US Cellular, Alltel Wireless team up to launch 'U Prepaid' service in Walmart stores originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/HD3OSo4ZdvE/

MICROSOFT MILLICOM INTL CELLULAR MOBILE TELESYSTEMS

Windows 8 welcome screen revealed, looks very Metro

It's not really a secret the Microsoft had planned on bringing bits of Windows Phone 7's Metro UI to Windows 8, but we haven't seen a lot of really telling evidence. However, with the Windows 8 milestone 3 build now available to Microsoft Connect partners, it was really just a matter of time before we started to get a peek.

Thanks to Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott, we've now had a glimpse at what the Windows 8 welcome screen will look like. As you can see, the typography is very Metro indeed. Within Windows also mentions that the background image is customizable, and we're wondering if it might not pull from your current Windows 8 theme. This particular shot shows the CTRL + ALT + DELETE login option, but we imagine you'll still be able to log in by clicking your account picture tile as well.

Rivera and Thurrott also mention that the tablet version of the welcome screen will allow you to log in by swiping a pattern on the screen -- as you can on current Android devices.

Windows 8 welcome screen revealed, looks very Metro originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/windows-8-welcome-screen-revealed-looks-very-metro/

BT GROUP CANON MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS

MIT develops fog resistant, glare-free glass, it's clearly amazing (video)

It sounds like it's not just us that spend half our sweet time with lint-free cloth in hand. Researchers at MIT have developed a new type of glass that "virtually eliminates" reflections, and is also water-repellent. By using techniques from the semiconductor industry, conical nano-textures etched into the layered surface that give the wonder-glass its fog, glare and self-cleaning properties. The hope is that the technology will find its way into our many daily screens and even windows. It's not all about gadget vanity though; solar panels lose efficiency over time through residual surface build up, and using the new glass could go some way to eliminate that issue. If they can just remember where they put the ultra-clear test sample that is.

Continue reading MIT develops fog resistant, glare-free glass, it's clearly amazing (video)

MIT develops fog resistant, glare-free glass, it's clearly amazing (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/wlD8MbhHgsY/

GOOGLE GOOGLE FORMFACTOR

Meon makes its way to Android!

Those of you old enough to remember Windows Mobile no doubt played Meon at some point. The idea's simple enough — you use light to free the cute little Meons from whatever it is that's keeping them trapped. The game starts out simple, but pretty soon you'll be bouncing light off mirrors and changing colors with prisms to the point that you're not sure what started where, or where it's going to end up. It's strangely addicting.

The Android version is faithful to the original. Our only real complaint is that it doesn't really take advantage of the larger screen sizes.

Meon Lite gives you access to the first 32 levels, though chances are if you're anything like us, you'll spring 99 cents to get all 120 levels in the full version. We've got download links after the break.

Download: Meon Lite (free), Meon full (99 cents)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/FXeDjbIaQKU/story01.htm

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING AVNET BHARTI AIRTEL