hunters

Screenshot apps that'll capture your attention

Most software categories have their share of free and commercial, good and bad samplings. Screen capture applications, which are more powerful and specific than a PC's native Print Screen function, and which seem like they should be straightforward, are also a varied bunch.

I captured every pixel of my display a few times over while testing four screenshot products--FullShot, SnagIt, Gadwin PrintScreen, and ScreenHunter Free. Because we evaluators just love criteria, I looked at image quality, editing features, and ease of access--the quickest, most natural way to get from screen to a shareable image. Ready for some findings?… Read more

Ten fingers and a seven string guitar: CD Review, Charlie Hunter Trio's Mistico

It seems like Charlie Hunter has always played a Novax eight string guitar, but for the new CD he slimmed the neck down and nixed a string.

Even so, those remaining seven strings never sounded better than they do on Mistico (Fantasy Records). Hunter's a major genre jumper, he teamed up with DJ Logic in 2005 to make his Longitude CD, his all-instrumental Bob Marley homage Natty Dread was a career highpoint; his funk outfit TJ Kirk exclusively played reworkings of James Brown, Thelonious Monk, and Roland Kirk tunes; and early on he covered Kurt Cobain's "Come … Read more

Photos: Got ghosts? You know who to call

When Sharon Leong conducts field work, she packs a digital camera, a thermometer and an electromagnetic field meter. She isn't a private detective or an electrician. Leong, a legal secretary by day, is an avid ghost hunter by night.

With those gizmos and many others in tow, Leong treks to reputedly haunted homes, battlefields, bars and hotels, gathering what she thinks may be evidence of a world beyond this earthly one. The pursuit of ghostly evidence has been a popular pastime for centuries. Now, instead of Ouija boards, ghost hunters are increasingly turning to high tech gear to assist … Read more

Happy hour 2.0: Mashups get smashed

"Nerds!" --Ogre, Revenge of the Nerds

Since the dawn of time (or at least the 1980s), avid computer users have been ridiculed for lacking social skills and an ability to party.

But anyone who has seen the documentary Real Genius or seen the schools featured on this list of top college pranks knows otherwise.

Nerds do party. They just party efficiently. That's why these drink-deal locators exist: to help us find cheap drinks between here and the nearest library.

Nationwide sites

UnThirsty: This is a Google Maps mashup that lets you search for happy hours, food specials, … Read more

Shoot deer, drink beer, subway home

Attention urban barflies: If you haven't played "Big Buck Hunter Pro" yet, you're hanging out at the wrong bars. This summer, the deer-shooting video game attracted the attention of an unusual crowd: Manhattan hipsters. It's apparently soared past barroom staple "Golden Tee"--you know, the golf one--in popularity. And now "Buck Hunter" has expanded beyond its original New York and San Francisco locations. It's now found in places as widespread as South Sioux City, Neb.; Leesburg, Va.; and Stowe, Vt. It was quite the hit at DigitalLife last week (see … Read more