mattycakes

It's 99 cents, and it looks like a lot of fun. It would be even better if there was some kinda camera/judging thing that lets it automatically know when you've scored.

What else could you use the iPhone for that actually interacts into real space? Maybe something involving screen brightness and night lights? [iTunes via Mobile Crunch]

NorwoodIsMyHero

Josh Carr

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Nota: If you're reading this, there's a good chance you've:

• Grown up
• Gone to school, earned good grades
• Found a decent job
• Gotten to a place, financially, where an iPhone seem like a think you should buy

Four nice things! Also: four reasons you should be embarrassed that you still can't read music. Nota teaches you how. Fairly intuitive, though a bit intimidating for a total newbie, and easy on the eyes. $5.

Etude: So you've figured out how to read music, with Nota. Cool! Not learn some songs on that crappy little electric keyboard you just bought. Etude turns your iPhone into a little tiny sheet music machine, with an in-app store for song downloads, all of which are free now. They're adding premium (read: modern) content soon, too. $3.

Transformers G1: Awakening: A Transformers RPG rendered with stunning authenticity. As someone who grew up with Transformers and can't make it through either of Michael Bay's films, this game was a revelation, both in pacing and style. $3.

SkiFree: Y'know, SkiFree! The one with the skier and the monster and the jumps, that you loved but haven't played since 1993? It's that, exactly, but minus the snow monster. (For now, at least). Free.

Navigon MyRegion: Says Brian B:

Navigon is one of our favorite navigation apps. Which is why we're pretty excited at the prospect of being able to buy it piecemeal: starting today, instead of buying maps for all of North America for $80, you can buy a MyRegion map of the East, Central, or Western US for $25.

The $25/$13 initial/subsequent package price is introductory, and will go up to $30/$15 before too long, so don't hesitate for a second if you'd even been considering Navigon up to this point.

Zombie Smash: I've never met a tower defense game I didn't like. I've also never met a piece of media that features zombies, be it a film, a game, or a book, that I didn't like at least a little. (Also, I've never met a zombie, full stop. Huh!) Zombie Smash is a horribly addictive tower defense game, with ragdoll physics. And writing, even! I tend to give up on tower defense games before finishing them, but I'm planning on seeing this one through. $2.

Fox vs Duck: Cue Frucci:

Your ducks get dropped down from the sky onto a pond populated by a hungry fish and watched over by a fox on the side. You tilt the iPhone to move the duck and get it off the pond and away from the fox. As the levels advance your enemies get faster and more objects show up on the pond, making life harder for your duck. There are also Xbox-style achievements and a global leaderboard.

A buck.

KaleidoVid:

Here's how you work the app, which isn't immediately obvious from the screenshots. You hold it up to anything-like a camera-and the app will take what your phone sees and turn it kaleidoscopy. Tap the screen to freeze the thing and save it to your photos, or immediately tweet/Facebook it.

He ends with what could be a devastating observation about iPhone apps in general, but we'll keep this fun and light, because it's Friday and I'm tired: "In any case, there's no "point" to the app other than it's pretty neat and gives you something to kill the time." Ha! Yes. Fun. $1.

PayPal: Fact: Now you can send money to another person by bumping your phones together. Add a sense of whimsy to your shady street transactions! Free.

Paper Boat Race: It's a 3D boat racing game. Pretty straightforward, really. But oh oh oh oh OH, can you guess what the gimmick is? JUST TRY. (Clue: It involves actual blowing.)

This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory. Have a great weekend, everybody!

SinaHamedian

The device shows usage information, and also displays the cost of energy during the day, allowing you to run appliances whenever the cost of electricity is lower. [Tendril via Earth2tech via Treehugger]

Scotland

ACEACEACE

ottermann killed Kenny

im.thatoneguy2

Stage One: Denial

"No. No, there's no way. This is probably just a software issue, maybe if I try rebooting again it'll work. I've only had this hard drive for two years, there's no way it just died. I'll get all that stuff back. This silly computer always freaks out but is fine after a reboot. Even though I've tried rebooting five times and it sounds like a fork is suck in a garbage disposal in there, it's probably just the CD drive."

Stage Two: Anger

"Are you fucking kidding me, Western Digital? I've lost everything! I trusted you, and for what? How does a company that sells such crappy products stay in business? I will murder the first WD employee I see. And what the hell is wrong with me that I didn't back this stuff up? I am the biggest idiot in the world and I want to punch myself in the goddamned face. I hate myself and don't deserve to be happy."

Stage Three: Bargaining

"OK, so maybe I can download some software and boot this drive as a secondary drive and try to recover some stuff. I mean, I'll have to go buy a new hard drive and install it and then figure out how to hook this one up as a secondary drive, and I'm not sure where my OS discs are, but hey, I'm a smart guy, I can figure this stuff out, right? Or maybe professional data recovery services have gotten much, much cheaper lately. Yeah, I'll bet they're affordable now, they've gotta be."

Stage Four: Depression

"All those photos. I'll never, ever get them back. I'll never see those faces again. And my essays from college, I was going to share those with my kids someday. And man, all that music, it's taken me years to collect all that. Why did I even bother? It's like the last ten years of my life have just been erased."

Stage Five: Acceptance

"Ah, none of that stuff was that important. Most of it was uploaded to various sites like Flickr, anyways. At least the really important stuff. Regathering all that music will be fun, too! And hey, you know what? Maybe it's good to start fresh every once in a while. And man, hard drives have gotten a lot cheaper since I last bought one. This is really just a good way to put things in perspective; none of this stuff was all that important. Except for those photos. Why the hell didn't I back them up?"

Photo via Flickr

Memory [Forever] is our week-long consideration of what it really means when our memories, encoded in bits, flow in a million directions, and might truly live forever.

im.thatoneguy2

"I was fortunate," he said because he had the ability to fly cross country in the four-hour window needed to transplant a healthy organ. "Last year, 400 other Californians died waiting. I could have died."

He called current system "an obscure process" with "no one asking the simple question: Will you donate your organs?"

Of his current health, the whippet-thin Jobs told other transplant survivors who attended the Friday news conference, "I'm feeling fine. I almost died. It's been a pretty good last few months."

Steve made these remarks during an event announcing the introduction of the United State's first living organ donor registry in California earlier today. Let's hope that changes things for the better. [Business Insider]

Ozzie, The Speeling Bee Champ

Knox Handroid

The internet caught glimpses of this gauntlet last fall and now it's available for motorcycle and cyborg hand enthusiasts worldwide. This kevlar and kangaroo hyde reinforced exoskeleton could be the first line of protection in the event of a crotch rocket accident. In addition to the heavy armor the Handroid features a ratchet system of 19 strands of stainless steel wire to help dissipate heavy impact forces—potentially making the difference between a sprained wrist and a shattered ulna. Granted, this thing shouldn't be the only line of defense you have between asphalt and your body, but it should significantly increase your chances of ending up in an ambulance instead of a hearse. Godspeed, little buddy. [Knox]

Dell G2410H WLED Monitor

Dell's newest 24-incher strives to be the king of economically minded environments. Made with efficiency and minimal power consumption in mind, this decently sized monitor has the familiar and comfortable adjustments you've come to expect from Dell. The ambient light sensor is designed to adjust the screens brightness according to the available light in a room, the less light you use to illuminate your environment, the less power this little beauty needs. If you're looking for something a little beefier then you should check out the infamous 27-inch beauty which uses the same panel as the heralded and chided iMac. At $339 this certainly is a great buy if you're in the market for a new display, although keep in mind HDMI ports are decidedly absent. [Dell]

JVC Everio GZ-HM550BUS

JVC's camcorder lineup may not be as well endowed as Sony's, but we appreciate the focused options and the willingness to introduce Bluetooth standards where others dare to tread. This 1080p capable gem features smartphone remote controls for when you need to place and operate the camera in hard to reach places. The 32GB of internal storage should offer enough space for the several hours portions of 600fps footage you surely plan to shoot. If you need more space there's also the SDHC slot to tack on some more bytes. $800 plus some creativity should lead to some awesome footage. [JVC]

Audaxero

EarlyAdopter

Neeraj Verma

Scotland