fishing

Nothing rustles my jimmies like getting ready to bake some pizza rolls, only to open the bag and find that they're encased in a thick layer of ice, a la Captain America.

The piece of adhesive tape used to secure the bag shut failed, presumably due to the low temperature and my inability to remember to buy freezer tape. I've also tried the standard spring-powered bag clip, but after a while, those have the tensile strength of the average claw arcade game and don't even work on bags of chips, let alone frozen nuggets of joy.

This situation used to end up in Shatneresque pontifications on the fleeting nature of life (and possible eyerolls from anyone within earshot), but not anymore. Because I have a FishClip. … Read more

Microsoft has already cooked up a special Bing page tempting users to check out its upcoming Windows 8 "Consumer Preview."

The first clue is the video of a betta fish swimming from one edge of the screen to the other. Thought of as Microsoft's mascot for beta versions of new operating systems, that particular fish swam its way onto the desktop of the beta for Windows 7 in 2009.

But other more obvious clues are the hot spots and links scattered across the screen that refer specifically to Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Since the page is still … Read more

Despite considerable fanfare from Big Fish Games as having the first subscription-based game on the App Store, it turns out the company was breaking Apple's rules, and has since paid the price.

As picked up on by iLounge earlier, Big Fish's software called Play Instantly! was pulled down by Apple today, shortly after its introduction.

A source familiar with the situation said the app should not have made it through Apple's app review process for its use of a monthly subscription to unlock gameplay, something Apple does not allow, and has not announced plans to offer to … Read more

One day you might not own the games on your portable device. You might be renting them instead.

At least that's the vision from Seattle-based Big Fish Games, which has become the first developer to get a subscription-based video game on Apple's App Store, Bloomberg reports.

For $6.99 a month, users of the company's upcoming iPad application can play "dozens" of game titles within the single piece of software, versus the publisher coding each title as its own application and submitting it to the App Store. Those games are streamed to the app, versus … Read more

Fishing Joy is the iOS port of a popular Asian arcade game, ostensibly about catching fish with nets but really about quickly calculating probabilities, taking risks, and earning coins.

Fishing Joy is a pretty game, with a top-down view of colorful fish swimming around a tropical undersea environment. You want to catch the fish by firing a net at them, and you only have two controls: you can tap on where you want the net to go, and you can tap on your net cannon to determine your net's size rating, from 1 to 7. You're very likely … Read more

Enviro-Bear 2010 is part game, part joke, part art piece, and part game design experiment, a bold and ridiculous app that's basically a Rorschach test for gamers, in which you play a bear driving a car who's trying to run over and then scarf up enough food to hibernate in the last 5 minutes before winter.

Whether you love or hate Enviro-Bear 2010, a few things are certain: the interface is deliberately difficult (reflecting, one might suppose, the difficulty a real bear would experience driving a car), as you touch and drag to direct the bear's paw … Read more

Tap Fish makes you a pet owner by letting you start, grow, and maintain a digital aquarium, right on your Android device. It's fun and addicting, and best of all, it's a lot easier than taking care of a real tank full of fish.

First thing to do after downloading the app is drop some fish eggs in your tank. Choose a few species, and watch as your fish instantly materialize. From there, you must take care of your fish just as you would with an actual aquarium. Because the app functions in real time (which means it … Read more

Fishing is supposed to be relaxing. Kick up your feet, have a cold domestic brew, and wait for the little swimmers to nibble on the bait. This calm experience is sometimes rudely interrupted by the flurries of energy required to reel in a fish.

If you have a Power Fish'n Pro Hybrid Reel from Rock Island Equipment Company, you won't even have to set down your beer to catch a bass. It's the ultimate fishing relaxation-enhancement gadget.

The Power Fish'n Pro uses a standard Shakespeare spinning reel with a motor that activates at the push of a switch. The motor is quiet enough not to scare away your prey. You can still set it to manual mode if you want the full thrill of the hunt. It runs on four AA batteries.

This isn't a case of another gadget for lazy Americans. It's aimed at people with disabilities and senior fishers that could use a little extra assistance. … Read more

OkMap is a free geographical software package that can create, edit, and manage digital maps, import data from GPS devices, scanners, and other sources, plot your position in real time, and extract statistics.

With its detailed toolbar and feature-packed menu bar, OkMap's interface bears a strong resemblance to digital imaging and word processing tools, but with a specific geographical focus. The program opened with an optional tool tip that we could click through for a general view of the program's capabilities. An online-hosted, PDF-based Help file does an excellent job of explaining this versatile application's many features … Read more