CUPS

Once game consoles hit their stride in the '80s and '90s, the platform game became enormously popular. Especially with the release of the now legendary Mario games, just about every developer rushed to produce a game that offered that perfect mix of running, jumping, and collecting items for points, all while exploring a strange and often fantastical world.

This week's collection of apps includes modern twists on the old-school platform games many of us remember. The first lets you explore deep mines for treasure; the second will bring back memories of precision-heavy, rage-inducing platform classics; and the last offers up cartoonlike graphics as you explore a dreamlike fantasy world.… Read more

Last month, an unknown San Francisco publishing start-up had just about the best debut imaginable. Byliner's first product became an instant best-seller and seriously called into question the reputation of an international sensation a decade in the making--all in less than 25,000 words that never touched a printing press.

The tiny operation released Jon Krakauer's "Three Cups of Deceit"--a scathing deconstruction of alleged fraud and mismanagement at the hands of world-famous do-gooder Greg Mortenson of "Three Cups of Tea" fame--as a free PDF in mid-April. The launch got a big boost from a story that aired last month on "60 Minutes" about Mortenson, based largely on Krakauer's research. (Disclosure: "60 Minutes" is broadcast by CBS, publisher of CNET.)

"Reaction has been extraordinary," Byliner.com founder John Tayman told CNET. "In the 72 hours it was available as (a) free download, more than 70,000 readers downloaded a copy. It then moved to the Amazon Kindle Singles store, and it went to No. 1 within six hours."

As of this writing, the 75-page narrative--a riveting account despite being based largely on a review of financial records and interviews with people with ties to Mortenson's nonprofit--remains in that top slot (even as Mortenson's supporters, including one of his former climbing partners quoted by Krakauer, have come to his defense).

Now, Byliner is looking for a repeat performance with its follow-up release in its "Byliner Originals" series--20,000 words from award-winning author William T. Vollmann titled "Into the Forbidden Zone: A Trip Through Hell and High Water in Post-Earthquake Japan." Byliner commissioned Vollmann, who has written about Japan in the past, and paid for his trip to the triple-disaster area to gather stories of survivors, the aftermath, and implications for the future.

"We want to take advantage of the swiftness that digital publishing allows to get these great reads in front of readers," said Tayman, himself a writer and editor who has worked at Business 2.0 and Outside magazine. "Our first two titles are excellent examples of that approach. These are stories that have complexity and currency, tackled by two of the most acclaimed writers in America."… Read more

Printers in OS X are generally managed through the "Print & Fax" system preferences, and when there are problems with your printer setup one of the ways you can quickly revert back to default settings is to reset the print system. This can be done by right-clicking in the printer list and choosing the "Reset printing system..." option that should be available in the contextual menu.

Unfortunately, some problems with the printing system may result in the Print & Fax preferences hanging or crashing when opened, resulting in the inability to use the system's reset … Read more

It seems you can do almost anything with robots and Kinect--perhaps even save lives. Students at the U.K.'s University of Warwick are using the motion controller on a robot that's designed to help find victims in quake-hit buildings.

With a look that seems inspired by "Short Circuit" star Number 5, Warwick's Teleoperated Search & Rescue Robot (PDF) can crawl over obstacles and fit into cramped spaces.

It has six tracks and a sensor-laden "head" on an articulated arm, and is powered by two Roboteq AX3500 motors.

It can use its new Kinect sensor to map terrain in 3D, perhaps identifying areas in a collapsed building where victims could be trapped.

The Kinect is an improvement to past versions of the robot that saves significant sums compared with Lidar laser sensors, which use light to image objects and create maps.

The team also wants to equip the crawler with a manipulator that could help bring food and medicine to trapped victims.

The robot won the European rescue championship at RoboCup last year in Germany, and aims to win this year's world competition in Turkey. … Read more

Mornings can be treacherous things to navigate, and most of us have developed some kind of ritual to help us get through those choppy waters. Coffee and tea have always been popular day-starters, and how we get it varies as much as how we like to enjoy it. Some of us rush about, grabbing our beverage of choice so quickly that the sloshing in the cup threatens to spill onto the floor. And others like to sit back, relax, and let the early morning stares take over. For those who belong to the latter group, here's something you might … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Remember when TomTom launched a $120 GPS car kit for iPhone last year and everyone screamed "too expensive!" Well, Pioneer just announced a similar kit of similar functionality at a similar price point at this year's CES. We're wondering if history is doomed to repeat itself.

Pioneer's car kit holds your iPhone or iPod Touch in place while you drive with a swiveling cradle with a 30-pin dock connector. The unit features a GPS receiver that enhances the positioning and accuracy of the iPhone and adds positioning to the iPod Touch. There's also … Read more

There's a scene in the film "The Social Network" in which a fictionalized version of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds a developer challenge that involves programming at breakneck pace and pounding frequent shots of alcohol. The real Facebook "Hacker Cup" developer challenge, which the company announced last night, will probably be a little different. We hope.

The Hacker Cup, an "annual algorithmic programming contest open to hackers from around the world," is open to entries starting Dec. 20 and will consist of three online elimination rounds followed by finals at Facebook's headquarters … Read more

Dexim--manufacturer of accessories for iPhones, BlackBerrys, and other smartphones--has sent us a pair of devices from its car solutions line of products.

The first is the DFU012 Touch Screen FM Transmitter, a universal adapter for smartphones and MP3 players that takes an audio signal and broadcasts it over a low-power FM channel to be picked up by a nearby car stereo.

The device runs on a single AAA battery and should work with any device that features a 3.5mm headphone jack or audio output. At an MSRP of about $30, an FM transmitter such as this is one of … Read more