Every score’s ‘crappy’ for players of Hardhat Wombat
At first I thought this game was too gross to tell you about. Then it made me laugh.
Hardhat Wombat stars a wombat construction worker whose primary building material is his own square poops. After I finished level one, I was congratulated on my “crappy job.”
Wombats are the only animals in the world that produce cube-shaped scat, according to National Geographic. But how and why do they do it? The lead poop researcher thought it was because they have a square anus, but she later discovered that it’s the irregular shape of their intestines.
The game was developed by George Fan, who created the wildly successful Plant vs. Zombies. Sadly, Fan cannot produce his own cube-shaped excrement. But “it’s fairly safe to say Hardhat Wombat is more full of crap than all of George’s other games combined,” according to the company’s lead programmer. The game includes 90 increasingly difficult levels featuring fiendish foes and obstinate obstacles, allowing you to compete with friends for a crappy construction crown. I got blocked in level three. Where’s a young relative when I need one?
The game is available for $10 for phone or computer through the Steam platform. Get it at HardhatWombat.com.
ANDROID 14 TIPS
Like most people, I often use the notification shade by swiping down from the top of my phone. It lets me turn off or turn on things like Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb and Flashlight. But recently I added Font Size to the top of the list.
The ability to add font size to the top of the notification shade is a feature in Android 14. Obviously, it lets you quickly increase the size of the font of whatever you’re looking at. It worked well in my tests.
But font size isn’t the only thing you might want to add to the top of your notification shade. To make other changes, pull down the shade and tap the pencil. Next, tap and hold anything you want
to move up and drag it to the top. I just moved up Record and Wallet. That means I don’t have to fumble when looking for either one. Record will be handy when I’m at a lecture. Wallet will be nice when I want to use Google Pay, dubbed “G Pay,” at checkout.
AI IN GOOGLE MAPS
I’ve never been to London, but I now have a cinematic view of it in Google Maps.
The new Immersive View for Routes uses artificial intelligence to move you through
a territory as if you’re really there instead of showing you a flat map or a simple street view. But for now, it’s only visible in some maps.
To start, open the Google Maps app on an Android or iPhone. Search for a landmark in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo or Venice. Choose the London Eye Ferris wheel, for example, and you’ll see the Immersive View card below it. Tap it to explore the area. You can also tap Weather and Time.
Immersive View is supposed to show you building interiors, but I haven’t seen any yet, except in the Google
demo I found after searching for “Google Maps Immersive View Reveals Building Interiors.” The Google crowd cheered when they saw the inside of London’s “Cinnamon Club,” though it didn’t pop up for me when I tried it. Perhaps it’s so exclusive it’s already been taken down.
CAMERA PROVES IMAGE AUTHENTICITY
The new $9,461 Leica M11P camera is amazing. It allows you to prove that a photograph is really the one you took and not a mishmash of AI-generated images.
This camera is the world’s first to offer the equivalent of a verification stamp for each image, according to ZDNet.
Each photo includes details about the camera make and model, the name of the photographer, the time and how the image was captured. That’s all in the metadata, though you can turn this feature off if you wish.
PASSWORDS
Twelve-letter passwords are tougher to crack than shorter ones, even if they don’t have symbols and numbers. For example, it’s harder to crack “trash-taco-wool” than 4mf#$gh. But Google says passkeys are 40% faster and more secure.
Besides Google, passkeys are available in PayPal, Adobe, TikTok, Safari and others.
They allow you to use facial recognition, fingerprints or personal identification numbers. To create one for Google, go to myaccount.google.com on your phone. Then click Security and choose Passkey. For Amazon, go to Login and Security, then Passkey.
QUISHING
You’ve heard of “phishing,” when a hacker is fishing for info that you’d rather not share. How about “quishing?” Quishing involves fake quick response, or QR, codes.
You’ve probably noticed that many restaurants and theaters use legitimate QR codes instead of paper menus or programs. You just point your camera at one and a link pops up. Tap it to see the menu or program. Fake QR codes typically arrive in unexpected email. Hackers hope to entice you to download virus-laden software. Don’t do it.
INTERNUT
“Making Chat (roBots).” Search that phrase to see a Boston Dynamics robot dog that guides humans through a facility, showing them all it has to offer. It appears to be a talking canine with a British accent. It even makes conversation and answers questions. Joy Schwabach can be reached by email at joy.schwabach@gmail.com.