Games you should be playing: The Creeps
Thank you we have our winners. This contest is over. Congrats to faithful Macenstein readers Brian and Dav!
Man, we’re going contest crazy here these days!
We’re launching a new feature here at Macenstein called “Games you should be playing”. It’s not quite a full review, just a heads up on games worth buying. We’re kicking the feature off with the adorably spooky tower defense game The Creeps
($1.99) , a game you should buy, but we also have 2 free codes to give away, thanks to the developer, Russell Bernau of Super Squawk Software (details below).
Similar to our game of the year title Fieldrunners, The Creeps is a tower defense game, meaning the object is to stop bad guys from getting from one side of the screen to the other (in this case, you want to save a little sleeping boy from the monsters that hide in his closet). The Creeps sets itself apart from other TD games with it’s sense of humor, creativity, and truly wonderful drawings and animations. Read more
“The 12 Days AFTER Christmas” Giveaway: Day 6
[Thank you, we have our winner. This contest is closed. Congratulations to faithful Macenstein reader RandomPerson]
On the Sixth Day After Christmas, Macenstein gave to you (or, more accurately, gave you a chance to win…) A 320GB OWC Mercury On-The-Go Oxford924 FireWire 800&400+USB2 5400RPM 8MB Cache Portable SATA 2.5″ based Storage Solution
“Huh?”
That’s a fancy way of saying “hard drive”, dummy! And a big one too (at least storage-wise – at 320 GB!). Physically, it’s actually quite small and fits easily in your laptop bag inside its included carrying case. I have 2 of these, and I love them – perfect for running Time Machine on my MacBook Pro.
Above: Palm-sized, FireWire 400/800, and USB 2 connections, a cool carrying case and cables included! What more could you want?
Finally! Now you have no excuse not to back up your laptop (you know you’re not doing it).
The OWC Mercury On-The-Go FireWire 800/400 + USB 2.0 Portable Kit packs an incredible punch into a 3″Wx5.5″Lx1″H 11 ounce package!
If you’re looking for one of the most compatible mass storage solutions made, look no further! The OWC Mercury On-The-Go drive is all you’ll need! Packing a one-two punch of super fast FireWire 800 and USB 2.0, the OWC Mercury On-The-Go has what it takes to truly work cross platform.
The OWC Mercury On-The-Go keeps everything running silent while still keeping your drive cool with a built in aluminum heatsink underneath the hard drive, and passthrough cooling vents on the top of the case.
The OWC Mercury On-The-Go drive uses the latest Oxford chipset, the 924, for both FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0. Designed to work with SATA hard drives, this chipset is the latest evolution of the best performing FireWire chipsets on the market.
FireWire/1394 makes it easy, OWC Mercury makes it faster! With transfer rates of up to 800mbs, plug and play connection, and professional level FireWire software, you will not go wrong with an OWC Mercury FireWire Drive.
To enter: Since the Mercury On-The-Go is all about space (both storage, and not physically taking up much), leave us a comment telling us what you think is the best Sci-Fi Space movie ever. Winners will be picked randomly 7 days later and notified (kind of like in The Ring, only with less killing… we hope). Open to all readers world-wide. Good luck, and thanks for reading Macenstein! (Oh, and be sure to enter ALL our “12 Days AFTER Christmas” Giveaways!)
Please note: Comments may take a while to show up, please do not double-post. Thanks!
C’mon Apple, Really?
OK, this content theft on the iTunes app store really has to stop. I realize it’s warm and sunny in California most of the time, but are you telling me that whoever approves iPhone apps has never heard of The Grinch?!
Above: The all new, totally original iPhone game “Catch The Gift”
I mean for crying out loud, they even call him the Grinch by name!
Can you Catch all the Gifts? In this game, you will have to grab as many gifts as you can, but watch out! The evil Grinch is hiding among some of those great looking boxes! You do not want to grab the Grinch, do you?
I also like how the life meter at the top says “Live” instead of “Life” or “Lives”.
Apparently it’s what’s on the OUTSIDE that counts
Yikes. Russian gadget customizer iCustom has done the unthinkable, (and probably the unsellable). They will now take your beautiful iPhone, rip off its shell, and replace it with a clear one, letting you and the world see what makes your iPhone tick.
Unfortunately, it looks like the somewhere in the process you will lose your camera, but hey, that sucked anyway.
[Gizmodo]
MCotM Christmas spectacular!
Filed under: Awesomeness, Mac Chick of the Month, Photos
Yes, it’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not the holidays! The time of year where we have one of our Mac Chicks dressed up (or down) for Christmas!
Looks like Mrs. Claus has been working out!
Yes, December’s Mac Chick of the Month Aerin was nice enough to give us the best gift of all, more pictures of her in a bikini with her Mac, including two new holiday desktop wallpapers. Enjoy! (Oh, and friend her up on MySpace!)
“The 12 Days AFTER Christmas” Giveaway: Day 5
Thank you, we have our winner. This contest is now closed. Congratulations to faithful Macenstein reader Carrie!
On the Fifth Day After Christmas, Macenstein gave to you (or, more accurately, gave you a chance to win…) An EyeTV Hybrid from Elgato!
Above: This thing will change your life. (Mac not included)
Looking for a nearly endless “free” source of movies and TV shows for your iPhone/iPod? Or maybe you just want to watch and record High-Def TV on your Mac? Well, assuming you win, you’re in luck! Today we’ve got the super sweet EyeTV Hybrid Mac TV tuner up for grabs, and at the risk of being accused of overselling this, I couldn’t live without mine. Maybe it’s just because I have kids, but if I had to pay for all the episodes of SpongeBob, Hannah Montana, Blues Clues and Barney I have put on my various iPods, iPhones, and Apple TVs over the years, I would have gone broke. (Well, broker). And I’ll be damned if I am going to PAY for an episode of Barney!
The EyeTV Hybrid delivers stunning-quality HDTV to the high-resolution display of your Mac. And because it receives both analog and digital TV, it’s an ideal (and inexpensive) solution for the digital transition. What’s more, EyeTV Hybrid is not just a TV; thanks to the included EyeTV 3 software, it’s also a digital video recorder (DVR) with a comprehensive Program Guide and editing capabilities. It’s a DVR that can put your television recordings on a Mac, iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV with one easy click of a button, and can export them for use in other Mac video applications. All this, in one small TV tuner stick.
To enter: Since the Hybrid is all about recording video, leave us a comment below telling us the one show you can’t live without. Winners will be picked randomly 7 days later and notified (kind of like in The Ring, only with less killing… we hope). Open to all readers world-wide. Good luck, and thanks for reading Macenstein! (Oh, and be sure to enter ALL our “12 Days AFTER Christmas” Giveaways!)
Please note: Comments may take a while to show up, please do not double-post. Thanks!
Macenstein’s “Mac Chick of the Month” (December 2008): Aerin
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, Mac Chick of the Month, Photos
Welcome to Macenstein’s Mac Chick of the Month”. Each month we feature a different die-hard, Mac-loving girl who is (almost) as well designed as the Apple products they love. This month we present you with an unprecedented 4 pages (And 2 of the hottest desktop wallpapers we’ve ever seen!) of the lovely Aerin, a Model / Copywriter / Graphic Designer, and of course, full-time Mac Chick!
Doug returns!
Filed under: Apple TV, Doug's Rumor Corner, Rampant Speculation, Rumors
[Disclaimer: Doug has never been right about anything.]
Hey everyone, look! Doug has returned, and he has a new rumor for us! This time it’s about the Apple TV. Looks like the Apple TV might not be getting a redesign so much as losing the hardware aspect entirely. (At least according to Doug).
Hey Doc,
Here’s something I heard through the grapevine. Apple is investigating the possibility of releasing the Apple TV OS as a separate box purchase. In other words, take an old iMac or Mini thats just laying around, install the Apple TV OS on it, and boom, you have an Apple TV.
Sell it for $79 and it probably has more profit margin than the Apple TV itself. And then those users are buying iTunes content.
Also prepare for the Apple TV to be opened up to a special gaming section of the App Store, where multiplayers can use their iPhones and ipod Touches as controllers.
That’s all I got.
Have a Happy New Year!
Like all of Doug’s scoops, this is another “Apple is investigating the possibility” of something, so when it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t mean Doug was wrong, it just means Apple changed their mind – yet on some levels, it doesn’t sound all that ridiculous either. However, I just don’t see Apple releasing what would in effect be a new, “Home Media Center” version of OS X and expecting people to install it on random hardware configurations. While many of us likely could do so, I think the average consumer would still like to buy a neat little box that does what it is supposed to. The iPhones as controllers is a cool idea though…
Anyone know how to take the contents of a Finder Window and make an Excel file out of it?
This is just a purely selfish post – we’re looking for a suggestion. Right now in The Lab we are backing up our video files to 400 GB LTO tapes. The problem is, we don’t really have a great way to search through the contents of those tapes without loading them one by one and then doing a search. Right now we are simply taking screen grabs of the Finder windows, printing them out (ie killing trees), and stroing them with the tapes in a library, which as you can imagine, seems like taking 5 steps back in efficiency. What we’d really like to be able to do is is grab the contents of a Finder window (for example, the folder full of video projects, folders and files we are backing up to the tape), and export it to an Excel sheet or XML file of some sort that we could search through quickly to figure out which tape a file or project is on. Any ideas? Thanks!
“The 12 Days AFTER Christmas” Giveaway: Day 4
Filed under: Awesomeness, Free Stuff, Hardware, contests, iPhone
Thank you we have a winner. This contest is now closed. Congratulations to faithful Macenstein reader Chuck!
On the Fourth Day After Christmas, Macenstein gave to you (or, more accurately, gave you a chance to win…) A Solio® Hybrid 1000â„¢ charger!
Above: Sunlamp not included.
Tired of your old coal or diesel powered iPhone charger? Well, now you can go green with the Solio® Hybrid 1000â„¢ charger! Compatible with your iPod or iPhone, as well as a slew of other gadgets such as GPS units and mobile phones, the Hybrid 1000’s built-in solar-powered battery will keep your iPod charged long after civilization collapses due to a Zombie uprising or similar catastrophe. And don’t worry, if Skynet should become self-aware and the sun ends up getting blocked, you can always charge the Solio from a standard AC outlet to give you on-the-go power!
To enter: While the Solio will work anywhere, obviously our more temperate readers will benefit the most. So out of curiosity, let us know the current weather where you live. Temperature does not affect odds of winning, we’re just wondering how many of our readers we should be jealous of (Right now at Macenstein Labs it is a dreary 35Ëš and cloudy). Winners will be picked randomly 7 days later and notified (kind of like in The Ring, only with less killing… we hope). Open to all readers world-wide. Good luck, and thanks for reading Macenstein! (Oh, and be sure to enter ALL our “12 Days AFTER Christmas” Giveaways!)
Please note: Comments may take a while to show up, please do not double-post. Thanks!
