Mom crowdsources baby name for $5,000

Fun. Yes, fun.

(Credit: Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

Some decisions in life are very hard.

Which flavor of ice cream truly is your favorite? Should you eat goat’s cheese rather than cow cheese because goats have beards? If you buy shoes with skulls on them, will someone think you’re a necrophiliac?

And then there’s naming your baby.

Some choose the easy way out. There are names handed down through their family, saving the need to buy baby-name books. Some try — and even succeed — to be creative, as was the case with my favorite Starbucks barista’s mom who decided to name her little girl Kurshina.

Then there are those for whom it’s all too much — or something. They just wish someone else would take the decision and give them, say, $5,000.

That seems to be the case with 26-year-old Natasha Hill. She won a competition on the baby-naming site Belly Ballot for the privilege of having complete strangers choose her little one’s name. (The little one is due in September.)

As KTLA-TV reports, the idea is that you, me, anyone can have a say in this young one’s future identity.

More Technically Incorrect

HTC’s Zoe Share site comes to life

The HTC One is not available for the general public just yet, however that has not stopped some Zoe collages from appearing on the Zoe Share website. There doesn’t seem to be an overwhelming amount of the videos available at the moment, however there are enough so you can begin to get a good look at exactly what these will be. After all, sometimes things just make a bit more sense when you can see them as opposed to read about them.

zoe-580x389

That being said, lets first briefly explain the Zoe. These are essentially a mix of video and still images. You can create a Zoe (using an HTC One) by hitting the icon for the Zoe Mode. Once here you tap the on-screen button and the phone sets about capturing some HD video and still frame images and then packages it all together in a Zoe, which is 30-seconds in length. Below is a video from the HTC One launch event that goes a bit further into detail on the Zoe.

The big thing we have heard since is that this all sounds a bit gimmicky. Well, to that we say plenty of things can have that appearance in the beginning. The one thing that may keep the Zoe clips from being super popular is the fact that they can only be created but those with an HTC One. That bit alone may keep these in the gimmick category but as always, we will have to see how this plays out once the handset is readily available.

Anyway, back to the Zoe clips that are beginning to surface. So far there have been a handful discovered by way of some social media searches. You can check them out by surfing to the following three links; Zoe (1), Zoe (2) and Zoe (3). So how about it, any thoughts on the Zoe? Do you think these will be the next big thing, or the next big flop?

[via Android and Me]


HTC’s Zoe Share site comes to life is written by Robert Nelson & originally posted on SlashGear.
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iPhone piggy bank predicts how well you’ll do in life

The Jinsei Ginko piggy bank turns savings into a game. For your avatar’s sake, don’t lose.

(Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET)

If you’re terrible at something, just turn it into a fun activity. The Japanese did that very successfully when they turned singing into karaoke. Now they’re doing the same with saving money.

Jinsei Ginko (“Life Bank”) from Takara Tomy A.R.T.S is a digital piggy bank that works with your iPhone. It’s designed with a Japanese bank-style logo to get you serious about hoarding yen.

The plastic piggy bank can hold 200 coins of 500 yen, the highest denomination, each worth about $5.41. That makes for a whopping total of 100,000 yen ($1,083). You could buy a bathtub of ramen with that.

To use the bank, you first download the Jinsei Ginko app and set a savings goal. When you pop a 500-yen coin into the slot, you set your iPhone in the cradle and push a green button next to it.

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Xbox 360 250GB Spring Value bundle now available in the US for $299

Xbox 360 250GB Spring Value bundle now available in the US for $299

Sure, the next wave of gaming consoles may be arriving pretty soon, but while we wait for the PS4 and whatever Microsoft has in store for us, why not have yet another Xbox 360 bundle to choose from, right? Today the Redmond-based company released its Spring Value set, which includes that slim console with 250GB of storage space (as well as the accustomed peripherals, of course), one month gratis of Xbox Live Gold and, perhaps to make it all worthwhile, Darksiders II and Batman: Arkham City — although the latter of the two will be available via download code rather than as a physical copy. Folks that call the good ol’ US of A home can snag the fresh bundle starting today for $299, which is on par with similar bundles that Microsoft’s released in the past — granted it’s not as sleek-looking as some of the pricier ones.

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Source: Major Nelson

John Kasich Rejects Clemency For Henry Dupree, Condemned Ohio Killer

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Baby Gorilla At Cincinnati Zoo Cared For By Human Surrogates After Mother Rejects Her (VIDEO)

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