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In this article, Doug Aamoth examines an indie game which is going to be released for PC. Goat Simulator, by CoffeeStain, allows players to run around in an open-world as a goat, wrecking havoc on benches; buckets; people; and it demonstrates an excellent physics engine. For only $10, you can pre-order this game on Steam.

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A fighter sim just isn't realistic unless it makes you throw up and scream for your mother, which is why the sadistic folks at Australia's Deakin University created the Universal Motion Simulator. It can mimic external disturbances, mechanical failures and crash scenarios as well as normal flying.

This article details a video released by Michael Bloomberg's (the Mayor of New York) office: the video compiles some data from a study on how to reduce New York's CO2 emissions by "The mayor's Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability." Those science nerds calculated that one tonne of CO2 would equate to a sphere with a 33-foot diameter, and knowing that New York as a city produces almost 2 tonnes of CO2 every second, the virtual simulation shows that over the course of one year, New York would produce more than 54 million metric tonnes of CO2; by those pre-determined facts, we would see that the entire island of Manhattan would be buried under a pile of those 33-foot diameter spheres. This relates to 'Environment' because as we progress in technology, our emissions of fossil fuel bi-products (especially CO2) increase rapidly. This relates to ICS20 because we often argue about the tech industry's impact on the environment, the most recent of debates being 'Cloud Computing' (which we all agree has a less minimal impact than a multitude of servers.) This video was released as an open forum to discuss the matters of New York's ecological impact, and since the video is quite self-explanatory, I recommend that you watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtqSIplGXOA.

hi minab

This article (by Emily Price) details a few interesting facts surrounding the social media giant 'Facebook', particularly around gaming. We are all familiar with social games, such as Mafia Wars and Farmville, and Facebook has been recently seeing most of their income from in-game advertisements and in-app purchases. Facebook has seen a 13% growth in gaming users since September 2011 (226 million - 251 million.) Facebook now has over 900 million users, and over 500 million users are utilizing Facebook via a mobile platform. Facebook says that games grow on the network in five different ways: App Center, Notifications, News Feed, Timeline, and games users have Bookmarked. 8 out of the 10 top iOS games have Facebook integrated, and the top two categories of games users play on Facebook are 'Simulation' and 'Games and Puzzles.' This relates to Portable Computing because Facebook has recently taken large steps to improve the user's mobile experience, understanding that most of their core audience is on smart devices. This relates to eLifestyle because we see these social networks like Facebook integrating gaming into the user's social feed, allowing them to spend more time on the site. This relates to Economics because as games become cheaper and more accesible, we see that most of the gaming market is taken by mobile games; no longer do we have to go to an electronics boutique to purchase a $60 triple-A game, when we can buy the $0.99 version of said game or another digitally. Mobile games are the consumer conscious choice because you get the most "bang for your buck." This relates to ICS20 because although most of us say that our time on Facebook is deteriorating, we still are entrenched in the social gaming environment; this is demonstrated by Facebook's 65 million user growth in 2012 alone.

This article is about a special designed PAPER airplane set to release in June of this year, called PowerUp 3.0. It is a paper plane that you can fold yourself and can be controlled by an iOS or Android device. The product itself is just a thin metal wire which clips onto the top of the paper plane with a Bluetooth module on one end and a propeller on the other. You just have to throw the paper airplane and once its in the air, you then can control it with your phone. The app is free, and is similar to a flight simulator, in which you can control the plane to go up and down, or left and right by tilting your phone. The paper airplane is crash-proof, and is run by a USB rechargeable battery. It costs $50 and it comes with a spare propeller and rudder. I think this a very creative, and great product because you are taking something basic like a paper airplane, and turning it into an amazing piece of technology, and a magical RC Vehicle.