(Credit: CNET)

Old-school gamers will remember an age when there were no continues, no checkpoints, and no respawns. If you died during a level, that was it--you went back to the beginning of the level to do it all again. The craziest thing about it? You liked it even though it drove you crazy.

These days, a gaming purist might say games have gotten too easy and gamers have gotten too soft. When dying in a game doesn't mean anything, how can you truly enjoy the game? I'm not sure it matters, but I can see both sides. Maybe after checking out this collection--if you don't throw your iPhone through your computer screen from frustration--you can tell me what you think in the comments.

This week's collection of iOS apps is all about games that are both frustrating and addictive. The first is a favorite of mine from 2011 that is sure to induce rage seizures (not really, but you know what I mean). The second gives you some easy levels to start with but quickly gets extremely hard. The third is all about collecting weapon crates (or at least attempting to) for high scores.

It may look peaceful, but it took me about 10 restarts to get this point--not even close to the finish.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

League of Evil (99 cents) has been ar... [Read more]

Learn how to replay a favorite song or cute [insert animal here] video you can't stop watching.

YouTurn is a simple and lightweight extension for Google's Chrome browser that will let you add the repeat function to any YouTube video. The extension adds a small icon in your omnibar which allows the feature to be toggled on and off.

Steps 1 and 2.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma)

Step 1: Open your Chrome browser and head to the extension page for YouTurn in the Chrome Web Store.

Step 2: Click the blue Add to Chrome button in the top right-hand corner. Then, click the Install button on the pop-up that follows.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma)

Step 3: Locate your favorite video on YouTube. Try this video (turn your volume down if you're at work/value your sanity) as a starting place.

YouTurn is off.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma)

Y... [Read more]

Loading Chrome extensions based on your needs will spare some system resources and keep you on task.

It's so easy to grab extensions for Twitter, Facebook, and even music services. Unfortunately, while these extensions are great for socializing and surfing, they may be resource hogs or distracting you with animated icons while attempting to be productive. There is one extension that can help solve this conundrum for you: Context. Basically, this extension groups your other extensions for situational use. So if you're working, shopping, or just surfing for fun, you can load only the relevant extensions. Here's how to get started:

Steps 1 and 2.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma)

Step 1: Head to the extension page for Context in the Chrome Web Store.

Step 2: Click the blue Add to Chrome and then press Install on the pop-up that follows.

A small tutorial will load to show you how to use the add-on (steps also provided below).

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma)

Step 3: Click the New Context button in the bottom left-hand corner. Name the context and choose an icon to represent it. You can repeat this as many times as you like until you have all of your contexts created.

(Credit: Scree... [Read more]

It can be frustrating to receive an attachment or find a file online that you can't open. Maybe you don't have the latest version of MS Office, or maybe you just don't know what program is required. Open Freely is a great, free tool that lets you peek inside many popular file types. Here's how to use it: 

1. Download and install Open Freely here. 
2. When confronted with a file you can't open, launch Open Freely and click the open icon in the top left, then browse and select your file. (You may want to check the list of supported file types here first.) 
3. Open Freely offers simple editing tools for documents, spreadsheets, and other such files. These should be familiar to most users. They're not as advanced as those you'd find in Office or similar suites, but they're functional. 

   Step 3: Review and edit document.

4. It's also easy to print using Open Freely. Just click the printer icon at the top and you're all set. 

That's all there is to it. It's easy to enjoy media files or to review documents even on computers that aren't set up to handle the right file type.

Thanks to GHacks for the link!

[Read more]

Apple's new textbooks are in the iBookstore.

(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)

Apple's new digital textbook initiative is Steve Jobs' brainchild, McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw says.

"Sitting and listening to all of this, I wish Steve Jobs was here," McGraw told All Things Digital in an interview referring to Apple's iBooks 2 announcement yesterday. "I was with him in June this past year, and we were talking about some of the benchmarks, and some of the things that we were trying to do together...This was his vision, this was his idea, and it all had to do with the iPad."

Apple yesterday unveiled its plans for playing a more integral role in education. Chief among the announcements was iBooks 2, a digital-textbook initiative that will let publishers create interactive titles. Apple showed how the textbooks, which will run on the iPad, can increase student interest through video, 3D images, and other multimedia content. The textbooks--for high school, at least--will cost $14.99 or less.

Apple's push into the education market didn't surprise many industry observers. In Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, the author wrote that the company's co-founder ha... [Read more]

Over the past year we have regularly covered new malware threats that have emerged for OS X, which included attacks like MacDefender, BlackHole RAT, Flashback, and Revir, among a number of others.

While our coverage of these threats may make them appear significant, when looking at the overall Mac malware scene in review it's apparent that despite the increase in Mac malware prevalence, the threats for the Mac platform are still quite minimal. Additionally, data suggests Mac malware trends may not follow market share as many suspect it does.

Recently security company F-Secure released an analysis of the Mac malware that was released Q2 through Q4 of last year. Overall, there were a mere 58 new variants that were released between April and December of 2011, most of which were Trojan horse or backdoor attempts, and none being viruses or worms.

The breakdown of the malware shows that as with other platforms, social engineering is the primary means of spreading malware, but the main observation is that the overall number of 58 threats is nothing when compared to other platforms. According to UK-based security company GData, starting in 2009 the number of new malware threats for computers and Web-based services has surpassed 1,000,000 per year. ... [Read more]