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As anyone who has played Mario Kart on the Nintendo will testify, one of the fun elements of the game is to try and beat your mates’ times in a time trial around one of the courses. A phone app that is currently in beta mode is attempting to mimic this experience by turning your physical ride/run/skate into an interactive video game.

The phone app, which is called Dash!, allows a user to  create, participate, and compete asynchronously on custom made courses out on the streets at any time. So, if a race route is created and logged in by one user, other people using the app (friends or strangers) will be able to race that route Mario Kart style to see if they can beat someone or a leader’s time on that route whenever they want.

GPS
The app uses a phone’s GPS system to record data for any given route. This includes logging in start and finish points for a route as well timing for any given route when a user takes the challenge of competing on a course. The app for instance stops timing automatically when you go past the finish point.

Rewards
Points are awarded for various times, wins, challenges as it is in any video game. Naturally, there are also leaderboards for any given route, while fail conditions are also built into the app with checkpoint times. A user can also wager currency on any given route he competes with his friends.

Getting fit
The greater aim for Dash! is to change people’s behaviour towards getting fitter by getting them involved in physical activity in a fun way. Introducing a natural element of competition and racing only adds to the fun and get’s you working harder on your ride.

The app is currently available in private beta on the Android platform, with an iPhone and Android app due for launch soon.

Photo credit: Cycleliscious

Forget your iPod, book or hiding behind that copy of the Metro, if you’re looking for a great way to pass the time of day on the bus or train on your way to work, check out Nintendo’s new Face Training game.

The idea behind the game is to strengthen and tone your facial muscles. Check out the promo video here…

To achieve youthful looking skin and relax your face, you have to pull a series of faces, which will definitely get you some interesting looks from others in your carriage.

The game works by getting you to pull a face on one half of the screen to match a cartoon in the other screen. Hold for five seconds and you score points. You choose the area of your face you want to work on and you only have to play for 10-15 minutes per day to get results.

Face Training will cost £40 so it’s a whole lot cheaper than a painful Botox injection or a facelift, and it works much better than any anti-aging cream as you’re exercising your face.

We reckon this is a great way to pass the time when you Do It In Public, whether you’re playing yourself, or just trying to spot somebody doing their facial workout.

That cleverly bundled package of wires, plastic and chemicals sitting on your desk, or on a table in the corner of the living room, could be the real eco-villain in your house. TVs and computers, it seems, are pretty ghoulish concoctions.

So says this year’s Greenpeace Greener Electronics guide, published last week in the wake of the 140,000-person-strong Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This is their 14^th edition of the guide, and it’s not afraid to name names.

Samsung in particular are the target of much ire – even provoking an online petition from Greenpeace that begins: “Electronics giant Samsung has recently backtracked on its public commitment to eliminate hazardous chemicals such as PVC (vinyl) plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFR) from its product line. Unlike other electronics companies such as Apple, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, and HP, Samsung needs more consumers tell it to keep its promises and remove these substances before they end up contaminating soil and water in an e-waste dump in Asia or Africa.”

It’s the PVC and BFR that cause so much of the damage, according to Greenpeace’s report: PVC is the most damaging of all, in every phase of its life cycle, while BFRs can build up in the bodies of humans and animals. “Eliminating the substances will decrease exposure and increase the recyclability and reusability of electronic products,” Greenpeace point out.

With the mountain of e-waste building up by the minute, and plenty of it finding its way to developing nations for cheap disposal, one sure way to make sure you’re not adding to the problem is to repair, reuse and recycle in your own country first.

When that’s out of the question, refer yourself to the Greenpeace guide to make a fair and informed decision: Nokia seem to be doing a great job, while Apple has eliminated toxic PVC (vinyl) plastic, making it the first company to completely expunge hazardous BFRs and PVC in its computer systems. As for Nintendo – they’re bigger eco-villains than Donkey Kong himself. Read the report in full here.

Ed Chipperfield