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Is Spec Ops: The Line an oasis in the desert?

Forgive me if I'm absolutely sick and tired of military shooters. It seems that no matter what time of year, there's always a war game that's ready to thrust you into some third-world country and have you shoot a bunch of bad guys for 8 to 10 hours.

The format is severely outplayed, so it's no surprise that going into Spec Ops: The Line I was expecting more of the same. Thankfully, Spec Ops deviates away from conventional shooters to the point that it can be enjoyed independently, all while maintaining a very mature and gritty storyline. It's one of the first games to really vilify war, rather than reward it.… Read more

How to repeat commands in OS X Terminal

The OS X Terminal is a commonly used utility for troubleshooting OS X, because it allows you to run custom commands and scripts for looking up information and adjusting system settings. While useful, the Terminal is intended primarily for power users who have an understanding of the UNIX underpinnings in OS X.

Often when running commands in the Terminal, various iterations of the command will be executed to try different settings or perform slightly different tasks, which in the Terminal can be frustrating as it can require you type out sometimes extensively long commands over and over again.

For instance, … Read more

Lose Facebook's Timeline with TimeLine Remove

We happen to like Facebook's Timeline feature, but we know firsthand that there are plenty of people who don't. TimeLine Remove is a Firefox extension that can make both your own and other people's profiles appear in the old, pre-Timeline style. We think it's a good choice if you find yourself unable to get used to the new two-column layout.

TimeLine Remove installed easily and was ready to go without a browser restart. We went to Facebook and found that the extension worked as promised; we checked both our own profile and those of several other … Read more

Hide Facebook Timeline with a Firefox add-on

I figured that by now most people would have grown accustomed to Facebook's Timeline interface, but my post from a couple months ago about a Chrome extension that hides Timeline remains one of my most-clicked-on stories. Given the apparent interest in this topic, I searched for a Firefox add-on that did that same thing. Lo and behold, I found the very same extension.

Install the TimeLineRemove extension for Firefox by clicking the link and then clicking Allow. Then on the next window, click the Install Now button.

The add-on is enabled by default. Head to Facebook or refresh the … Read more

How Apple keeps them lining up

What does the iPad have in common with Harry Potter? Quite a lot it turns out.

It's got legions of fans eager to line up for it, lose sleep over it, and even skip work to be the first to get their hands on it. And of course there are those that detest it entirely.

We're not going to call CEO Tim Cook a wizard, say there will be an eight-part movie series, or focus on the company's use of the word "magic" to draw this comparison out even further. But we will say that … Read more

You should still wait online, not in line, for a third-gen iPad

As the latest iPad nears its official availability date of March 16, those who haven't preordered already are left in a quandary.

To no great surprise, newly placed Apple iPad orders now won't ship for another 2-3 weeks. So, should you try waiting in a line at an Apple store or retailer on Friday instead for your iPad fix? … Read more

Skitch can sketch with the best of them

It may not be a mobile version of Adobe Illustrator, but Skitch can handle basic image annotations and sketches exceptionally well. It's easy to learn, its tools work well, and it can even export your work to Evernote.

Getting started with Skitch is simple. From the Home screen, you can open up a blank canvas, import an image from your gallery, or take a new photo with your mobile device's camera. Also new to Skitch is a feature that lets you pull up and add annotations directly onto a Google Map, which is perfect for giving detailed or … Read more

Do more than add photo effects on iOS

I've written about several iOS apps here that add effects to your photos, but most are just for adding a retro look, tuning your images, or making a photo look hip for social networking sites. I've found some great ones like PhotoToaster, Photogene2, and SnapSeed, but there's another genre of apps that make even more drastic changes to your images.

This week's collection of iOS apps is about taking your photos to the extreme. The first turns your images into line-drawn cartoons. The second fills in your image with words to produce a thought-provoking effect. The third puts your image through a coffee grinder, and brews up a bubbly colorful mosaic.… Read more

Line Runner offers unique 2D side-scrolling challenge

Even though its graphics and gameplay are of the simplest variety, Line Runner is a fun, addicting, and surprisingly challenging game.

Essentially, you are a 2D stick figure, running furiously and trying to avoid hitting blocks along your way. To earn a higher score, all you have to do is run farther. It's very simple.

When the game starts, your character begins running automatically. Tap the left button to slide under blocks or tap the right button to jump over them. Hold the right button a bit longer, and you'll get just a little more air time to … Read more

Line Runner offers unique 2D side-scrolling challenge

Even though its graphics and gameplay are of the simplest variety, Line Runner is a fun, addicting, and surprisingly challenging game.

Essentially, you are a 2D stick figure, running furiously and trying to avoid hitting blocks along your way. To earn a higher score, all you have to do is run farther. It's very simple.