Macgasm

Frog Dissection ($4.99) by Emantras, Inc., is an educational app that takes you through the process of dissecting a frog. The app is beautifully designed and is easy to use, with both written and audio instructions. Not only does Frog Dissection explain how to dissect, but it also provides additional information on frog organs, the frog life cycle, and other interesting frog facts. Emantras received PETA’s Mark Twain Ethical Science Award for this app, which offers a humane alternative to live animal dissection.

The opening screen is quite striking with its black background, green leaf, and yellow frog. From here you can access the virtual dissection sequence.Other educational materials are found here as well, including “All About Frogs,” a multi-chapter, illustrated discussion of frogs’ classification, appearance, life cycle, etc. “Human vs. Frog” compares the bodies, circulatory systems, digestive systems, and respiratory systems of humans and frogs. “Wet Lab Processes” is a simple guide to each step in a dissection.

The dissection process is as realistic as possible (without the ghastly smell of formaldehyde). The app guides the student through each step with both written instructions (which appear on a lab notebook) and audio instructions. A soothing female voice patiently explains which instruments to use and how to use them. The student pins the frog to the dissection pan, marks the incisions, and carefully cuts the frog open with a scalpel and scissors.

Using the forceps, the frog’s skin and muscle are pulled away to reveal the inner organs.

Once the dissection is complete, the student can touch each organ to see a 3D model and learn more about the organ’s function.

What’s Macgasmic: Frog Dissection is a terrific way for students to learn about dissection. The app makes the experience as interactive as possible and offers in-depth information about frogs’ organs, life cycles, and habitat. The 3D models of the organs are beautifully rendered and being able to touch each organ to learn more about it is intuitive.

What’s Not: Unfortunately, for some the app might seem much too simple. The dissection sequence is thorough, but simply sliding one’s finger on the line to “cut” the frog open obviously does not mimic the real thing. A student using Frog Dissection does not need any skill to dissect the virtual frog, whereas in a real lab situation, a student would have to exhibit patience and care to avoid damaging the specimen. The information in the app is quite basic and the illustrations look like those you might find in an elementary or middle-school textbook.

Nevertheless, Frog Dissection offers a much-needed alternative to using live specimens in science classes. If the real purpose of dissection is to teach students about the organs of a frog, then developing scalpel and skin-flap-pinning skills seems to be quite unnecessary. Using an application like this would simplify lab work and provide a practical solution for those who have ethical concerns about using animals for science. Certainly, this app is not sophisticated enough for upper-level education, but it is an excellent option for elementary and middle-school children.

Now, could you kind folks at Emantras please get on the ball and do a Fetal Pig Dissection App? My son is supposed to dissect one in his seventh-grade science class this year and his mommy is appalled. What happened to frogs, middle school science teachers? Did E.T. get to you?

About a month ago, I reviewed Default Case. I have been able to use the case for a bit longer now, so I thought I would give some additional feedback regarding the product with some real world experiences.

First off, the product does protect the iPhone as one would expect. So this is good news. The case extends just a bit passed the front glass, so if you find your iPhone sliding across the ground on its front, it may not be scratched as easily, so this can be a saving grace from a hefty replacement cost. Despite the protection, I have been able to find a few things that do concern me regarding the product.

The first is that the case can cause some discomfort. I have never been a big cell phone talker. I tend to send text messages instead of talking on the phone. But I did manage to find myself needing to use my phone for some strange reason, and I was on the phone for about a half hour. About ten minutes into the conversation, I found myself switching the phone from one ear to the other because the corner of the case was digging into my ear. This is not a pleasant experience to say the least.

Another unpleasant experience occurred when the case broke on me.  I went to pull my phone out of my pocket and somehow it got snagged. Once I did manage to extract it from my pocket, I noticed that the corner was broken and part of it was hanging loose. I did not like this at all. I broke the piece off so it wouldn’t get stuck on anything else. Since I broke off the corner piece, the phone is not held in place as snuggly as it should be.

I’m not sure if I can recommend the case anymore. Currently the price is still $0.01 per case, which does still make it somewhat attractive; however, if the retail price — $34.99 — does go into effect, I would recommend that you move on to another case, one that is more sturdy, not broken as easily, and most importantly, significantly cheaper.

Adobe’s Flash seems to still be fighting the ban on iOS devices. Even though Apple CEO Steve Jobs has enforced this ban, people in the community have continued to fight for it to be allowed. Apple did update its iPhone Developer Program License Agreement in March 2010 so that it no longer is restricted in the way you can develop apps for iOS devices (allowing Flash to be used this way), but there are still some who want the Flash Player allowed.

However, with the increasing number of Andorid-powered devices, which do allow Flash, it is suggested this may become an issue.

According to data from Ovum’s Smartphone Capability Analyzer Update 3Q10, Apple will come under increasing pressure to reverse its Adobe Flash ban as support for the technology grows among other smartphone platforms. Their findings show that the first six devices which support Flash 10.1 arrived in Q3 and the analyst expects this number to grow rapidly in the future. The idea behind their research is to monitor the evolving capabilities of smartphones due to this being such a fast-moving market.

The research gathered shows that Flash 10.1 support will grow across the smartphone market, which could lead to pressure from developers and users for Apple to support the technology on its iPad, iPhone and iPod touch devices.

Nick Dillon, Ovum analyst, said: “With support for Flash 10.1 growing, users will become accustomed to a similar web browsing experience on both mobile and desktop devices; this will ultimately impact the attractiveness of Apple’s proposition.”

“Flash certainly looks to be gaining ground with device vendors and Apple may need to re-evaluate its position if its dominance is threatened as a result.”

He added: “In addition to garnering support for Flash 10, Adobe has launched its own app distribution service for Flash and AIR applications. InMarket will help developers to sell their apps across various devices. This is clearly a big draw for developers and will threaten the dominance of platform vendors in the mobile apps market.”

I can understand what they are saying, but I don’t have Flash on my devices and haven’t had it for 2 years now, and I really don’t want it. I don’t miss it and I don’t care if  I ever get it on my device. After all the news surfacing about the security issues and the zap of battery life, I just don’t want it. Sorry Adobe.

Article Via Muktware

Android Image Via lwallenstein

Telltale Games released Poker Night at the Inventory — their second poker game — for both Mac and Windows today. Available on their web store and Steam, Telltale has taken four characters from different franchises and put them into one game for less than five dollars. For those of you just hearing about “Poker Night,” here are the characters you’ll be playing against:

• Max, the psychopathic bunny from the popular duo Sam & Max
• Strong Bad, the angry young man with boxing gloves from the popular web series Homestar Runner
• The Heavy, the eastern bloc giant from Team Fortress 2
• Tycho Brahe, the foul-mouthed intelectual from the web comic Penny Arcade

Even if you don’t have a strong interest in poker, you’re sure to be entertained by this combination of off-balance characters. If you’ve heard of the internet or video games before, there’s bound to be something for you in this insane mixture.

If you’ve already ordered your copy, you can check your Steam Games or head to the “My Games” section at Telltale’s site. Also, you can go here to get some exclusive gadgets in Team Fortress 2 if you pre-ordered the game.

Just when I thought Apple had our backs, I find out that Apple may have pulled their plans for an integrated SIM card in the new iPad and iPhone. Eat my words, I must.

The concept behind the integrated SIM was that Apple was creating a software-reconfigurable SIM card. It would have been a major step in eliminating SIM locks on the iPhone.

The Telegraph reported this morning that the “conjectural development into the integrated SIM has stopped.” Apple dropped the plans because the mobile carriers were going to stop subsidizing the iPhone. So you can add another reason to hate the carriers to your already super long list.

Keeping in mind that these are rumors, the embeddable SIM may be nothing more than conjecture itself, but the possibility was enough to give me hope for a new mobile world order.

At least here in Canada, an Ontario private member’s bill is demanding wireless transparency and unlocked phones for Canadians.

For me, buying an unlocked phone is the only option we have left. We might pay more upfront for our phones, and it might be the only way we can teach the Bells of the world that these ridiculous contracts are unacceptable.

Article Via TUAW

There’s really one indie game left that I’ve been waiting to come to the iPad after Plants vs. Zombies. Today they’ve made the announcement: World of Goo is coming to the iPad.

The game has been submitted to Apple, and they’re just waiting for approval. The award winning game is already available for Wii, Mac, Linux, etc., but until now it’s been absent from iOS devices.

The game doesn’t appear to have multiplayer functionality, but the developers did note that you could “co-op” because the iPad can handle 11 fingers on one screen at a time.

I’ll be buying this once it hits the App Store. The desktop version was great fun, and I’m sure the iPad version will be just as good.

Gameplay Footage (Non-iOS version)

Iconfactory’s new game is called Astronut. It’s available for free on the App Store and comes with 4 levels. You can buy an additional 20 levels through in-app purchases. It uses Apple’s Game Center to track highscores and achievements.

Knowing that Astronut is designed by Iconfactory was reason enough for me to download and try the game. Those guys are responsible for some of the greatest app designs out there, and Astronut is no different.

The attention to detail put into the game is stunning. The menus are simple and easy to use, with a Tron-like glowing design.

The goal of the game is to navigate your astronaut through 24 levels or “systems” as they are called in Astronut. You navigate by jumping from one planet to the next. The planets are spinning at different speeds and gravity levels. On your way through the system, you can collect “shards,” which are used to unlock bonus missions. Of course, you also face alien enemies while jumping from planet to planet.

Astronut uses a button based control for navigating through the main levels, which I personally like. You have a button to make your astronaut jump, thus giving up control to gravity. The only control left while your astronaut is floating is a “boost,”which you can use to destroy enemies. It takes a couple of seconds for it to recharge after usage.

In the bonus level I played, Astronut uses a tilt-based control, which is a good choice for speeding through the level, trying to collect stuff.

When you score a new highscore or unlock achievements, you can broadcast it on Twitter, Facebook, or send out an email. Unfortunately, the Twitter integration is a little flaky and didn’t work as smoothly as the rest of the game.

Overall, Astronut is a lot of fun and can be pretty addictive. Since it’s free, go and check it out yourself.

Firemint seems determined to take the world by storm with their Flight Control game. This is a highly popular and well-loved game in which you have to safely pilot airplanes (by drawing a path) to the correct landing strips. Check out our review of the game for more details.

Flight Control first made its appearance on our iPhones, then iPads, and now Firemint is announcing that it will come to the Mac via Steam, which delivers a range of games straight to computer desktops. We are expecting this to happen by the end of the month.

Steam is a luxury that PC users had for ages, The Mac community finally got in on Steam, and they are adding titles for the Mac all the time.

From Firemint’s blog:

“The Steam version of Flight Control HD will feature a brand-new, exclusive map. The new “Stunt Flying” map will introduce an exciting new gameplay element, where you can score extra points for flying through a course of stunt cones before landing. This adds a new challenge to the much-loved and insanely addictive gameplay first made famous by the worldwide iPhone hit that has now been downloaded more than 3 million times.

Flight Control HD for Steam will also feature Steam achievements and leaderboards, and will be available world-wide.”

No pricing or system requirements have been released yet. Firemint is adding more to the game and the stunt flying looks like an interesting addition. I have been using Steam for the Civilisation style games, and other games that I don’t find very playable on the iPad, where my Mac screen and mouse makes a real difference to my gaming experience. Personally, I am really happy with the way Flight Control plays on the iPhone and iPad, and I’m not sure I will add this to my arsenal of games, but if you go for it, we’d love to hear what you think. Having said that, Stunt flying looks pretty sweet.

Article Via MacStories