Space Marine (Video Game)

Warhammer 40K Space Marine Cover

The newest video game in the Warhammer 40K universe is Space Marine, a 3rd person shooter. Well it’s more of a 3rd person combat game, I wouldn’t really call it a strict shooter. There is a LOT of melee in this game.

The premise is simple, you’re a Space Marine, and there are hordes of Orks to kill. There are also Chaos forces in the mix as well, but it looks like Orks are the primary baddies.

If you’re even mildly interested in these types of shoot-em-up games, I urge you to go ahead and download the free demo via Steam. But be warned, the game is highly violent and bloody, as indicated by its M 17+ rating.

In the demo, you get a taste for some of the weapons found in the game, and two of the melee weapons. There’s a Fury meter, which fills up as you destroy enemies, and certain melee attacks fill it up faster. Once the meter’s full, you can toggle Fury mode, which gives you a short burst of power and speed.

There are no health packs or healing stations. If your auto-recharging armor takes on too much damage, you start losing health. To replace lost health, you must execute stunned Orks. If your Fury meter is full and you toggle the mode, then you can execute Orks, even the Nobz (or whatever the larger metal-jawed Orks are called), without needing to stun them first.

The demo may even be enough for you since it offers some repeatability, especially if you set it to the highest difficulty setting, which can be a challenge. The full game features single and multi-player modes, and is available for PC, XBOX360 and PS3 at about $45-50.

Space Marine via Amazon

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Amazon Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle FIRE

Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet

Amazon has just announced a new line of Kindle e-readers and tablets. There will be the new Kindle, a Kindle Touch, Kindle Touch with 3G, and the Kindle Fire. The 3rd generation Kindles from last summer are still included in the lineup and are the only ones with physical keyboards.

The Kindle and Kindle Touch will be available at their regular prices, and at discounted prices if you agree to the special offer screensavers.

Amazon Kindle

The new Kindle is 30% lighter than the 3rd generation Kindle, and with an 18%-smaller body. Like the 3rd generation device, the Kindle has a 6-inch screen. The Kindle will be priced at $79 with special offers, or $109 without. This version is Wi-Fi only.

Preorder from Amazon

Amazon Kindle Touch

Slightly larger than the new Kindle, the Kindle Touch is still 8% lighter and 11% smaller than the 3rd generation version. It will be available as both Wi-Fi and 3G models. The Wi-Fi model will be available with special offers for $99 and without for $139. The 3G model will be priced at $149 and $189 with and without special offers.

Preorder WiFi Version from Amazon
Preorder 3G Version from Amazon

Amazon Kindle Fire

The new Kindle Fire is a 7-inch color multi-touch Wi-Fi enabled tablet that can be used to watch videos and browse the web in addition to reading Kindle e-books. It’s got a dual-core processor, ultra-fast cloud-accelerated Amazon Silk web browser, free cloud storage, and 8-hour battery life, 7.5-hours if you’re watching video. All this for $199.

Preorder Kindle Fire via Amazon

The Kindle is available now, the Kindle Touch will be out November 21st, and the Kindle Fire will be released on November 15th.

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Before & After: How to Design Cool Stuff

Before & After How to Design Cool Stuff

I was checking out some of the new web-design books at the local bookstore when I came across Before & After: How to Design Cool Stuff by John McWade. The title of the book and look of the cover made me cringe a little, but I took a moment to browse through the book.

A bit to my surprise, the book looked awesome. Skimming the book revealed tips, tricks, and advice about, well, how to design cool stuff. There were sections about color, layout, typography, how to size graphics, and other related design-related topics.

The sticker price was a whopping $40, which seems like a lot for a 240-page book, but luckily the online and Kindle e-book prices are much more reasonable. Amazon provides a free first-chapter preview, but you may find it more rewarding to check out the book at your local bookseller.

Check price or order from Amazon

ISBN-10: 0321580125
ISBN-13: 978-0321580122

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Giveaway: Free Kobalt Double Drive or $25 to Spend at Lowes!

Just a reminder in case you didn’t see it yet: we’re running a giveaway over at ToolGuyd where you can enter to win a free Kobalt Double Drive Screwdriver or $25 Lowes gift card, your choice!

Click here for more Kobalt Double Drive info and here is the ToolGuyd Double Drive & Lowes Gift Card Giveaway link.

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What Are Those Dam Goats Up To?!

After showing a few images of goats hanging out on tree branches to my wife (check it out on flickr), she sent me a link to a Mudfooted gallery of goats on the side of a near-vertical dam. The Alpine Ibex goats are climbing the dam wall to lick to salt off the higher-up stones. Those dam goats sure are gutsy!

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Lowes’ Kobalt Double-Drive Screwdriver

Kobalt Double-Drive Screwdriver Handle

Even though Fall has just begun, the holiday shopping season is almost upon us. We’ve already seen Christmas items popping up at some stores and even a few building decorations as well. In just a few short weeks, many major retailers will start rolling out their holiday gift displays, choc-full of new products and innovations.

Update: Here is a LOT more information about the Kobalt Double Drive Screwdriver over at ToolGuyd.

One of the most appealing gear-related products we’ve seen thus far is the Kobalt Double-Drive Screwdriver. The new Kobalt Double-Drive is designed with unique internal gearing that helps you drive fasteners more efficiently by spinning the screwdriver bit in the same direction regardless of the direction you spin the handle.

We expect the new screwdriver to be a huge hit that will fly off the shelves at Lowes quickly. We’ll be reviewing the screwdriver over at ToolGuyd, so keep an eye out for additional coverage.

The Double-Drive will be priced at about $20.

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Netflix DVD Service Changes Name to Qwikster

Apparently Netflix has receive so much negative feedback over their pricing changes that they’re spinning off their DVD mail rental service into a new separate company, called Qwikster.

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Leatherman Juice, a Stylish Pocket Multi-Tool

Leatherman Juice S2

Leatherman’s Juice series of multi-tools are smaller and more casual in appearance than the models most people think of when you mention the brand. Despite their smaller and more pocketable size, Juice multi-tools pack plenty of tools and functions between their handles.

Every Juice model features combination pliers, a stainless steel body, anodized aluminum handle scales that are available in different colors, outside-accessible tools, and at least one knife blade and screwdriver bit.

Leatherman Juice C2 - 12 tools
Leatherman Juice CS4 - 15 tools
Leatherman Juice S2 - 12 tools
Leatherman Juice Xe6 - 18 tools

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New Buckyballs Buckycubes Magnetic Cubes

Buckyballs Buckycubes magnetic cubes

Buckyballs, a company that sells small neodymium magnet building sets, is coming out with a new product – Buckycubes. Buckycubes are larger than Buckyballs and feature cubic geometry instead of spheres. They are sold in packs of 125 cubes for $25.

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How to Make Awesome Homemade Guacamole

(This is a guest post by my wife Janice, who made some seriously delicious guacamole last week!)

Are you looking to finally make your own guacamole? Here’s how:

The first time I made guacamole, it wasn’t exactly a hit. I had followed a recipe, but the guacamole just didn’t taste the way we had expected. Maybe our taste buds were spoiled by the Wholly Guacamole we purchased regularly from the supermarket, maybe I picked a bad avocado, who knows.

Homemade Guacamole with Corn Chips

Over a year passed since the original attempt, but I decided to give it another shot. This time, the guacamole turned out pretty good. It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely tasty!

Ingredients:

Whippin’ it All Up

Slice the avocado lengthwise (not across its equator), twist and pull the two halves apart. Remove the pit with a spoon.

I prefer to cut the flesh into sections and then pop them out of the skin, but you can just scoop the flesh with a spoon.

Add the avocado to a bowl and then just 3-4 dashes of lime juice or red wine vinegar. The acids in the line and vinegar help prevent (or at least delay) oxidation (which is the chemical process that turns guacamole from a vibrant green to a muddy brown color).

Lime juice is traditionally used in guacamole (for both oxidation prevention and flavor purposes), but since I didn’t have a lime on hand I used red wine vinegar, and the substitution turned out okay.

Add in the minced garlic, cumin, a pinch of salt, and the salsa.

Mash everything with a fork. Depending on your tastes, you can make the guacamole as smooth or as chunky as you like.

Homemade Guacamole on a Bite-Size Chip

Stuart’s Notes: A bit of fresh crushed hot red pepper may have spruced things up a bit, but the guacamole was quite tasty on its own. Coming from me this is saying a lot since I’m not a huge fan of guacamole and can be somewhat picky.

We opted for Spike’s sauce rather than salsa because it is less chunky and does not have any diced or chopped tomato pieces. Its ingredient list is actually rather simple and modest: tomato puree, jalapeno peppers, onions, vinegar, salt, natural flavor, dried garlic. For your guacamole to be truly homemade, you may want to consider whipping up your own sauce/salsa-type flavoring, but we didn’t think it was necessary.

Also worth mentioning is that some people (like myself) will enjoy guacamole much more after it has been chilled for a bit.

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