Battlefield 3 vs. Modern Warfare 3

Two of the year's biggest games are going head to head this holiday season, both seeking the crown as best military first-person shooter. Unless you've cut yourself off from all forms of media consumption, I'm of course talking about Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3.

In our Battlefield 3 review post, we outlined how the game's campaign has a certain sense of realism, as opposed to the over-the-top action found in typical Call of Duty campaigns. While overall it's more slow-paced than Modern Warfare 3's single-player experience, there's arguably more strategy required to make it through the entire affair. I've always found Call of Duty games to be overly generous in the amount of damage a player can take, and with both settings on normal, Modern Warfare 3 is the easier game.

In regard to multiplayer modes, BF3 will give players a chance to pilot and drive various vehicles that they can't in MW3. I also really like how the idea of teamwork feels much more important in BF3 multiplayer than it necessarily does in MW3.

While the online game modes found in BF3 certainly take a page from the MW3 playbook, they do stand up fine on their own. There's enough disparity here to justify a separate purchase, especially for those hardened Modern Warfare veterans who want somewhat of a change in scenery.

Battlefield 3 (photos)

As for MW3's online multiplayer modes, there really isn't much in the way of groundbreaking innovation. In all of my preview sessions leading up to the game's release, not once did Activision offer a chance for me to get some solid hands on with the new maps. This of course led me to believe that there would be some sort of significant tweaking in the design, but alas, in my 10-plus hours of action, things feel very much the same as they did this time last year. Also, some of the maps in MW3 are reminiscent of the ones in MW2.

Modern Warfare 3 (photos)

I chose not to give MW3 its own review post for a couple of reasons. First, Activision didn't get us review samples until launch day, and second, I wanted to avoid forgoing enough time with the online multiplayer to pass judgment. Of course this decision was heavily influenced by the BF3 online hiccups that occurred during the game's infancy--something I didn't experience playing online before it was released to the public.

While I've only heard sporadic chatter about MW3 stumbling during the first days of online play, I have had firsthand disappointment with Call of Duty Elite, MW3's Web-based stat-tracking and social community. As of this writing the service is for all intents and purposes still broken. It's understandable that a complex network of servers trying to handle millions of users is having difficulty stabilizing, but Activision needs to make good with those who plunked down $50 for special features. I can't even log in to my main profile page:

It is my belief that it isn't fair to declare one game "the winner" when comparing BF3 and MW3. Modern Warfare may have the more recognizable brand, but Battlefield has a longer history. BF3 may have vehicles in multiplayer, but MW3 offers more online modes.

Whichever side of the fence you find yourself on, there's no denying that both titles are an absolute blast to play and are true technical achievements in interactive entertainment. If money isn't an issue, I definitely recommend checking both titles out. If you can't justify $120 on two great military shooters, hopefully I've laid each game's pros and cons out to help you make an educated choice on which game is right for you.

While I may think it isn't fair to award either game first place, that doesn't mean you can't. Please vote in the poll above for which game you prefer!

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How to assign unique vibration patterns in Android

Most of us are so accustomed to identifying incoming calls based on unique ringtones that we don't quite know what to do when we have to mute our phones in meetings or theaters.

Fortunately, the freemium app Vibe steps in to help us find our way, letting us assign one of five unique vibration patterns (or 10 for those who pay $4 for the upgrade) to our contacts. Here's how to use it:

1. Install the Vibe app from the Android market.
2. Once you're started, Vibe shows you your contact list. Tap any contact to select it, or long-press to select multiples to be assigned the same vibration pattern.
   

   Step 2: Choose vibration pattern.
3. You should see a list of available patterns; tap any vibration pattern to preview it, or long-press to select it for that contact (or list of contacts).

That's it. Though it may take some time to get used to IDing callers this way, it does become intuitive--and after a while, upgrading to 10 patterns looks a lot more attractive!

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How to take time-lapse photos on Android

Time-lapse photos are a fun way to document a series of moments happening around you with a camera.

And now there's an awesome app available for Android that lets you bring this same method to your smartphone or tablet. All you need is a quick download and a bit of setup to get started.

 

Step 1: Download Lapse It from the Android Market. There is a free version that will only allow lower-resolution photos and a Pro version, which allows images up to 720p.

 

Step 2: Open the app and press the Start new capture button.

(Credit: Screenshot by Nicole Cozma)

 

Step 3: Set the time interval of your photos by pressing the timer button on the left, and then enter the interval in seconds. This example will work with 2 seconds as the interval.

Step 4: Press the Capture button (big red dot in the top left-hand corner) to start taking pictures!

Hint: The menu will be hidden when you start taking pictures. To get it back so you can stop the camera, slide your finger along the left side of the screen (when holding horizontally). A pause button is located at the top, with Stop just a few choices down.

 

Step 5: Press play to preview your set of pictures. To edit these pictures, turn the device back into portrait mode and you will see options for trimming, adding effects, or rendering. Rendering will create an MP4, MOV or FLV (your choice in settings) from the photos, so you can share it with friends or family.

If you forgot to render one of your photo sets when you created it, here's how to get back to it:

Step 6: Head to the main menu of the app and press the List captured button.

 

Step 7: Tap the series you want to edit or share, and select View Details from the pop-up menu.

 

Step 8: Click the Render button on the right and type in a name at the bottom and click the smaller Render button in the bottom right-hand corner.

Step 9: Play or publish (share) the video through your social network of choosing.

If you created a time-lapse movie you want to share, add it in the comments.

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How to measure noise with your Android phone

Have you ever wondered if you were listening to your music too loud or just curious how loud your partner's snoring was? With a free app and your Android phone, you can turn your phone into a noise meter and find out.
Download Sound Meter from the Android Market and launch the app. It starts right up to the sound meter and measures the minimum, mean, and maximum ambient sound levels in decibels (dB). It also highlights the typical noise levels of everyday sounds so you can get an idea of what those noise levels represent. Additionally, you can change the chart to a time-based graph.

 

The app uses your Android phone's mic for measurements, so depending on your phone's hardware, you may not be able to reach the top end of the scale.
If you're interested in learning more about noise and hearing loss prevention, check out the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). It even has a noise meter on its Web site that lets you listen to a range of different noises and indicates what their noise levels are.

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Add appointments to your Android's lock screen

Now you can add calendar appointments to the screen you see most often on your Android.
The calendar widget is fairly useful, but it takes up a considerable amount of screen real estate. For this reason, it often lands on the screens to the left or right of the main home screen. And then comes the out of sight, out of mind practice. The only way to keep tabs on the events if you don't remember to look at them is to set reminders. But how good is a reminder if it reminds you at an inconvenient time? Here's how to avoid a mess like this:
Note: This app may not work on some Samsung Galaxy SII handsets and HTC Sense user interfaces. This is because they work with an altered lock screen, which does not allow editing of the content displayed through a third-party app like this one. If the support is added in the future, the developer states that he/she will add support for those devices.
Step 1: Download Lockscreen Calendar from the Android Market.

 

Step 2: Open the app and choose which calendars you'd like to display events for.

 

Step 3: Set the app's update intervals and how far ahead into the future you want to check for new calendar events, then press Update.

 

Step 4: Pick how many events to show and then adjust the date formatting to your liking.

 

Step 5: Lock your device's screen and then turn it back on to see your upcoming events.
No more excuses for forgetting events on your calendar, especially since they'll be staring you in the face every time you use your device.

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How to rename multiple files quickly with Name-Dropper

Rapid Streams Name-Dropper is a free Windows utility that lets you drag-and-drop a new file name to files you'd like to rename, and it can understand symbols that will label them in sequential order.

Unfortunately, you have to drag the new file name to each file; there is no way to highlight multiple files to rename them all at once. For numbered groups of files, however, Name-Dropper is faster than renaming and numbering each yourself in Windows Explorer.

When you launch Name-Dropper, a small, simple window opens. Drag the files you'd like to rename into the window. You can switch to a different view (List, Details, Small Icon, etc.) from a pull-down menu in the upper-right corner, and you can also reorder the files in the Name-Dropper window by dragging them.

Once you have your files in the Name-Dropper window, open Word or another an app from which you can drag text (you do so from the URL bar of a browser or the Google search field, should you so choose). At the top of the Name-Dropper window is a field labeled Drop Renaming Pattern. Here, you can type in text to rename your files, and you can also use placeholders <0> and <#> to order and number your files' names.

 

In my example above, I have a large batch of vacation photos with ugly names such as DSC_4487.JPG to which I'd like to give more descriptive names. I entered "Maine 2007 <0> <#>" in the top field of the Name-Dropper window. The <0> acts as a placeholder for the text I will drag into the window, and the <#> creates a sequential number order for my files.

From Word I started dragging the word "pic" into Name-Dropper, dropping it on each file, which was renamed Maine 2007 pic1.JPG, Maine 2007 pic2.JPG, and so on. All I had to do was drag and drop the word "pic" to change the names. It would be faster to make a batch change to all the files with one click, but Name-Dropper is still easier for renaming multiple files than going through Windows Explorer, right-clicking on each file, choosing Rename, and typing in a new name.

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Add a Windows 'Send To' file-handling option to OS X

While the OS X Finder handles files and folders similarly to how they're handled in Windows, there are some nuances to which Windows users may be accustomed that are different or missing on Mac systems. For instance, the ability to cut and paste files is missing in OS X 10.6 and earlier, but while Apple added this function in Lion, its implementation is still a bit different and requires different keystrokes than the Windows Ctrl-X and Ctrl-V combination.

Another Windows feature you won't find in OS X is the Windows Explorer "Send To" option for a selection of files, where if you right-click a selection you can send them to your documents folder, to an e-mail recipient, or to other locations. Some people who switch to OS X may be looking for a similar feature.

Is there an alternative way to move or copy files like Microsoft's "Sent To," instead of dragging everything? It seems harder and sometimes impossible this way.

Windows users who switch to Mac may miss the Send To option.

OS X does have a very versatile option called "Services" which is a more global version of the Windows Send To option and is available in the Services submenu of the application menu (immediately to the right of the Apple menu), or in the contextual menu.

By default OS X only has a few common functions available such as creating a new e-mail with the selected items as attachments, but you can modify these defaults by going to the Keyboard Shortcuts section of the Keyboard system preferences, and then modifying the various services that are enabled. The listed services will depend on the various applications you have installed, so for instance if you have certain antivirus utilities on your Mac then you'll see an option to scan selected documents for malware.

In addition to the services like this that are offered by programs installed on your computer, you can further customize the system services by creating your own custom services using Apple's Automator utility. To do this, follow these steps (in this example we will be creating a service that will move any selected items in the Finder to the user's Documents folder).

In Automator, create a service and then drag this option to the work flow and ensure the work flow will receive files and folders in the Finder.

(Credit: Screenshot by Topher Kessler)

1. Open Automator in the Applications folder.
2. Select "Service" as the type of work flow to make.
3. In the new work flow change the "Service receives selected" option to "Files and Folders" and then select Finder in the application menu.
4. Go to the Actions section of the library (the lists on the left) and find the action called "Move Finder Items." This will be listed under the Files & Folders section.
5. Drag this action to the work flow area, and it will appear with some options.
6. Change the options according to your preferences (in other words, change the default "Desktop" to the folder of your choice).

When you are done customizing the work flow, save it and then supply a name. I suggest you name it "Finder--Move to Documents" or something similar to make it distinguishable in the Services menu, as Apple does not support icons for its services like Windows has in its Send To menu.

Once the service has been created and saved, it should be listed in the contextual menu, and allow you to move selected files or folders to the desired area. You can make additional services for other locations.

With the new service created, you can select it in the Finder's Services contextual menu to perform the actions defined in the work flow.

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