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Let's be clear and up-front about RekenTest: It's a math test. Not only that, it's a math test you take deliberately, without anyone making you. That adds up to two important facts: 1) Your ability to think up excuses to get out of the test will be strained like never before; and 2) You'll learn math. This simple but effective freeware will see to that.

RekenTest's ultrasimple interface opens in full-screen mode with an optional wizard. Unfortunately, the program only offers full-screen or fully minimized modes. The true full-screen, fully maximized mode showed our toolbar … Read more

The Chevy Volt gets the feds look at the safety of all electric cars, Nissan makes a fast charge cheaper (sort of), Toyota puts Intel Inside, and Mercedes reworks the lowly windshield wiper.

SHOW NOTES

The GE WattStation EV charger has become the recommended charger for Coda's upcoming all-electric vehicles.

Coda has signed an agreement with GE Energy Industrial Solutions to sell the Level 2 charging stations for recharging EV batteries alongside its Coda sedans and to market them together.

GE WattStation's is a 240-volt Level 2 charger that is compatible with any standard EV. Currently, its competitors include the Ecotality Blink station and the Coulomb Technologies ChargePoint station.

Santa Monica, Calif.-based Coda is a fairly new automotive company that has set the ambitious goal to sell 50,000 EVs by 2015. … Read more

Time can be a difficult thing to keep track of when you're at your computer listening to music or playing a game. Sometimes you don't realize how loud the audio is and whether it's disturbing the people living with you or next to you. Volume Concierge is a simple and small app that can adjust your system's audio level at set times so you don't have to worry about it. Read on to learn how to set it up.

Step 1: Download and install Volume Concierge.

Step 2: The program should run automatically after … Read more

Contre Jour is an arcade puzzler that veteran gamers will see as a mashup of game mechanics and inspiration from several other popular titles. That said, Contre Jour is a well-executed melange, a fun and often challenging puzzle game with polished art and sound.

On each short level of Contre Jour, you're trying to get a charming little alien (essentially, a rolling eyeball) to the level's exit. The alien doesn't move on its own, so you need to use attached ropes (some elastic, some not, some with movable anchors), slingshots, malleable ground (which you can shape with … Read more

Windows 8 will include Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization tool in an effort to attract developers, IT pros, and other users who need to run, test, or support virtual environments.

Describing the move in the latest edition of the "Building Windows 8" blog, Mathew John, a program manager on Microsoft's Hyper-V team, noted that Hyper-V has previously been available only in recent server-based editions of Windows, making Windows 8 the first client OS to include the feature.

Virtualization tools such as Hyper-V allow users to run multiple operating systems and environments on the same machine. That's helpful … Read more

It really wasn't that long ago that the idea of playing chess against a computer was about as realistic as Mr. Spock's ears, but today's chess engines are so powerful that even free game software can challenge expert players. Or so we assume with Mayura Chess Board, which quickly eclipsed our limited chess-playing skills and proved an excellent piece of software as well.

Mayura Chess Board's board and pieces have realistic 3D highlights. That plus a pair of counters labeled white and black and a window to hold captured pieces add up to this game's … Read more

Advertisers and the Internet's overseers seem unable to reconcile a profound disagreement about the future of Internet addresses.

Three prominent groups representing advertisers--the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A)--have come down hard on a program to dramatically expand the number of Internet addresses beyond .com and .net to a new class that could include everything from .berlin and .movie to .plumber and .pepsi. The International Corporation for Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees Net addresses globally, approved in June the program to expand these so-called generic top-level domains (GTLDs) starting in 2012.

The three groups urged ICANN to reconsider the domain-name expansion program. The strongest terms came from the ANA, which outlined its concerns in an August 4 letter to ICANN that threatens broader and "far more expensive" action than just strongly worded correspondence.

"Should ICANN refuse to reconsider and adopt a program that takes into account the ANA's concerns expressed in this letter, ICANN and the program present the ANA and its members no choice but to do whatever is necessary to prevent implementation of the program and raise the issues in appropriate forums that can consider the wisdom, propriety, and legality of the program," ANA said in its letter. … Read more

The weekend is all about downtime. Well, maybe not for everybody, but we certainly hope you get a little time to yourself. In any case, it's always good to have some great time-wasters on your iPhone for whenever you get a break in the action. Fortunately, some excellent games came out recently (and one went on sale) that you really should check out.

This week's iOS apps are all top-shelf titles that are perfect for taking a break. The first is a popular console remake with tons of content that has hit its lowest price to date. The second is a very well-designed platformer that's skyrocketing up the iTunes app charts. The third app takes zombie destruction to a whole new level--way up in a machine-gun-equipped airplane.… Read more