firehose

The Goonies, the 1985 pre-teen exploitation adventure flick now fondly remembered by many people over 40, was one of the first summer flicks to get a video game adaptation in the same year it released. That game, originally made by Datasoft, has been updated for Windows and Linux with new graphics and sound.

The fans who updated the original — they call themselves the "Sloth Team" — have also added levels to the side-scrolling, action puzzle game. The download checks in at under 20MB, and can be accessed here.

If you were born after 1985 or, worse, never saw The Goonies, this clip reacquaints you with one of the film's more colorful characters, Chunk, portrayed by Jeff Cohen.

Arena Commander, the dogfighting module for the crowdfunded spacefaring epic Star Citizen, will launch on Wednesday, May 29, creator Chris Roberts announced in his weekly update to fans and backers of the game.

Everyone who backed the game through any of the channels that helped it raise a record $43 million will have access to two singleplayer modes, Free Flight and Vanduul Swarm, Roberts wrote. "The very first batch of multiplayer testers will get access to the game's multiplayer game modes," he added. "We will scale up the multiplayer as quickly as possible starting on that date, increasing the number of players as it is stable and stopping to fix bugs where needed."

Arena Commander was revealed to the public at PAX East back in April. Additional plans for Arena Commander include upgrades bringing larger ships, cooperative AI pilots and in-match communication. Polygon has more, including a hands-on preview, here.

Motorola's $129 Moto E isn't the cheapest phone there is, but it might be the nicest cheap phone there is.

Andrew Cunningham

We've said it before, but it bears repeating: budget smartphones have become much more interesting than their high-end counterparts in the last year or so. While $600 flagships continue to get slightly larger and slightly faster and slightly better at a predictable rate, the amount of phone you can get for $200 or even $100 has increased by leaps and bounds. OEMs are looking to sell smartphones to people who don't have smartphones yet, and making things cheaper is the easiest way to do that.

Many of the smartphone OEMs offer budget models, but they're mostly either ancient or terrible. They have slow, no-name processors; not enough RAM or storage; old versions of Android that time has forgotten. You can buy these and use them, but why on Earth would you ever want to?

Motorola (currently owned by Google but awaiting purchase by Lenovo) is taking things in another direction. We already looked at the Moto G, which was an incredibly impressive phone given its $179 starting price. Now we're looking at the Moto E, a $129 follow-up that tries to strike the same balance between quality and price. We've put the phone through its paces and we're here to tell you where it succeeds and, more importantly, where Motorola found that $50 in savings.

kidsmealkidsmeal:

laurafoden:

Insomnia, 2013. Pillow, thread, paper, glass, glue, eyelashes.

One of my pieces from this past semester. I didn’t get any clear photos of it, but I think the best part is that in one of the eyes there is medical literature that says "Remember that your doctor has prescribed this medication because she has judged that the benefit to you outweighs the risk"

Hello /r/Portland! I am Murray Carter. I am a Japanese bladesmith - the 17th Yoshimoto bladesmith, to be precise. My sensei (Mr Sakemoto) is visiting from Japan so I am hosting a special open house.
Are you interested in hand-forged knifes? Want to learn about them? I encourage you to attend! I will be forging a commemorative Tamahagane knife. It will be a very unique demonstration that is sure to impress.
The event begins at 10 AM sharp. Our address is 2038 NW Aloclek Drive, Suite #225 Hillsboro, Oregon 97124. Please give us a call if you have any questions (503) 466-1331. I hope to see some of you there!

Dogs aren't meant to stay cooped up inside while their owners are away from home, so a company called CleverPet is looking to produce a gaming device for our furry friends with the help of Kickstarter.

The CleverPet is a dog game console, according to the eponymous company that wants to bring it to market. The autonomous system is designed to engage and educate dogs throughout the day by challenging the animal with a variety of puzzles, and rewarding it with treats upon success. Three touch-sensitive, light-up pads sit at the front of the console, and a dog can use its paws or nose to interact with them.

CleverPet is imbued with algorithms so it can adjust the difficulty of those puzzles on the fly, and owners can track their dog's progress and add new challenges through a website or mobile app. One of the games is a take on Dance Dance Revolution that challenges the dog to touch pads as they light up in a particular order. According to CleverPet, the device can hold as much dog food as a standard dog bowl. And the system runs on the Arduino-compatible Spark Core, so users can build custom software for it.

The 34-day Kickstarter campaign began two and a half weeks ago, and the funding drive reached its $100,000 goal earlier this week. The CleverPet will cost $279 at retail, but the Kickstarter-only early bird price of $199 is still available. CleverPet expects to start shipping the first production units in February 2015.