When the second version came out, it was a natural progression of the first; better graphics, more variation, but effectively the same game. It has still kept my attention all of this time and as a fun diversion for 5 minutes it works perfectly. As an intense battle of concentration for over an hour it works perfectly. It does not matter how long you play it for- it just works and is on its own in my view as a mobile game that perfectly fits the smaller screen and which ticks every single box I want ticked. At least that is what I thought.

Can Knockdown 3 is quite a brave move on behalf of Infinite Dreams because it does more than merely improve the visuals. I will however, talk about this first. When you hit cans in a certain way now they will dent and they appear to be more reactive to the exact point you hit them at. This has previously not been a requirement, but in this new level-based experience it matters. The realism is added to by some strange obstacles that are designed to frustrate, but only a little bit, and backgrounds and environments that suit the genre perfectly. The music is not obvious at all and would sit better in a 1970's cop show, but again it works and adds a lightening effect on what is at times a dark and foreboding scene. This version feels familiar and new at the same time; the throwing is mechanism is thankfully largely unchanged with very minor improvements, but your goals have changed completely.

Previously you could play a series of games of which the best by far was trying to beat your high score over hitting different can setups over and over again. It sound repetitive and in some ways it was, but the repetition only appeared in sets and this makes the player have to understand every setup. As the setups changed the player would have to change their train of thought continually and adjust to the next challenge. Version 3 takes the idea of levels even further and you now have to try to get 3 stars on each level to progress to the next group of levels. The main difference is that you have to, at times, think about the order in which cans to hit first, how they will affect other cans and which is the optimum way to clear the level. You then have to avoid bogie cans, hit bonus cans and exploding cans in just the right order to move on. Add to this some levels where speed is of the essence and you soon find yourself experiencing every emotion as you play through challenges that gradually grow more difficult over time.

I can't explain the essence of Can Knockdown 3 because it is unexplainable. If you want a game that requires skill, patience, strategic thinking, quick reactions and deadly accuracy all at the same time then this is the game for you. Where else would you find all of that in one game? The latest Can Knockdown will follow the previous two and reside on my smartphone for a long time to come, and will no doubt be played regularly. Simply brilliant.

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Launched in 1997, the Psion Series 5 was a clamshell PDA running an OS called Symbian EPOC. In those days of stand-alone PDAs that either looked like doorstops or were little more than digital address books, the Series 5 offered a potent collection of features in a pocket-sized package, including a big screen and a proper slide-out QWERTY keyboard that you could touch type on. The keyboard was the highlight; although it was small, it had large, responsive keys with decent spacing, making typing much more comfortable than the tiny keys or on-screen keyboards of previous PDAs... More at Medium.

Thanks to Richard for spotting the above article at Medium. Some of us are never going to let the Psions go are we. Never.

At the core of Jolla is Sailfish, a mobile-optimized OS that has the flexibility of a unique, open platform. This is the world’s best stage for your apps, including those for Android™. Simply and intuitively operate the device, entirely with gestures. All of the screen estate is yours, without the need to stretch for the corners or spin the device in your hands.

I’m delighted to announce that we’ve reached an agreement to acquire Tumblr!

We promise not to screw it up.  Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going.  We will operate Tumblr independently.  David Karp will remain CEO.  The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve.  Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster.

Tumblr has built an amazing place to follow the world’s creators. From art to architecture, fashion to food, Tumblr hosts 105 million different blogs.  With more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day, Tumblr is one of thefastest-growing media networks in the world.  Tumblr sees 900 posts per second (!) and 24 billion minutes spent onsite each month.  On mobile, more than half of Tumblr’s users are using the mobile app, and those users do an average of 7 sessions per day.  Tumblr’s tremendous popularity and engagement among creators, curators and audiences of all ages brings a significant new community of users to the Yahoo! network.  The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! could grow Yahoo!’s audience by 50% to more than a billion monthly visitors, and could grow traffic by approximately 20%.

Image courtesy of gamethu.vnexpress.

The end result is indeed impressive, but my personal choice is to buy a brilliant phone with a decent camera, not a really good camera that is an adequate phone. Maybe the 925 is streets ahead of the other Windows Phone devices, but I think it is quickly becoming obvious that this platform needs something more to happen on the hardware and software front. It's already looking a little stale.

New! Car Mode for iPhone. A simplified interface that allows you to safely and easily control Stitcher while driving in both portrait and landscape orientations. Tap the Stitcher Logo at top of any screen to select car mode.

Good to see the Stitcher Radio app receive an update that makes using it when in a car easier. All podcast apps and music players should include a car mode- would make life a lot easier.

The photos fail to tell the story well by falling short of basic photojournalism requirements: good composition, sharp focus, and a decent dynamic range. Some shots benefit from pushing back against those givens; most do not. A photo accompanying an article as documentary fact should tell a story to the reader as well as the words it complements. Shortcomings in photos are more immediately obvious to readers than shortcomings in words.

Reporters rely on their iPhone, Android phone, or other devices for a wide range of circumstances in which they don’t work, and that reduces the value of their reporting in an age when freelancer writers should be able to produce words, pictures, audio, and video — and even package that combination into a pitch, if not a final deliverable product... More at Medium.

A refreshing perspective.