DeAGOSTINI Japan, a publisher that issues a weekly magazine specializing in collectable items, launched “Robi”, the friendly robot that wants to be part of the family. He can understand more than 200 words so he listens to you and talks to you and makes related gestures. He also can sit, stand, walk, dance, turn on the TV and change channels, and wink at you. Ask him to time your pasta. And should you take an umbrella with you today? The robot looks like it will be fun for …
Like a lot of chronic Facebook users you probably spend way too much time browsing your newsfeed and eventually you just give up, become bored, or just too busy to pay attention to what your friends are posting. It’s hard to like everything.
In Japan, where Facebook is relatively new in popularity (it exploded in 2012) users are more prone to like and comment on their friends’ status updates and photos out of a sense of obligation or pressure. With that level of interaction, and the expectation to like just about everything, you might as well go all the way, which is what the new doudemo ii ne (Whatever Button) is is designed for.
You can download this free app now at idpw.org and economise your Facebook time by simply liking everything on the page with the touch of a button. The video on the main page explains how to use the Whatever Button and this video bellow (in Japanese) explains the process in more detail, and it’s a sly commentary on how many Japanese people use Facebook in real life.
Make sure all your friends know how much you care about what they had for dinner, how their sister’s baby is, or how their cat does the cutest things!
It’s a bit of nuance as well, but the “whatever” part is more on the negative, cynical side when translated properly. It’s more of a resigned “yeah, whatever, I’ll like it all…” feeling rather than “everything is great!”. You can also purchase your own Whatever Button T-shirts here if you’re into ironic t-shirts.
Here’s something that’ll brighten you up just in time for the end of the week: Calvin and Hobbes being spliced into real life photographs. I don’t know how many times I wished these guys existed in real life when I was young. Hell, I think I still do. More »
Organizing for Action, the pro-Obama advocacy group formed last month out of the president’s reelection campaign, is launching an online campaign urging Republican lawmakers to support universal background checks for gun purchases.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the ads will target 16 Republican lawmakers who have not publicly committed to stricter background checks, including Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) in ads on local news outlets’ websites starting Friday. The LA Times reports that the group spent close six figures on the ad buy, which is the issue-based nonprofit group’s first.
The ad launch coincides with the group’s national “Day of Action,” which encompasses 100 events in 80 congressional districts. According to the LA Times, Friday’s events are aimed at building support for tougher background check standards, but future “action” days will focus on other aspects of the president’s gun policy proposals.
Increasingly over the past couple of years, I’ve been having outbreaks of hives and itchy skin. I finally sat down with an allergist, who gave it to me straight. I am allergic to pineapples, apples, and — get this — anything that touches my skin. Anything that rubs, scratches or irritates my skin will create the itchy, irritating hives. He said, “Your problem isn’t actually the allergies. It’s stress and anxiety, so I would get that under control if you can.”
Funny. I’ve been trying to get my stress and anxiety under control since I collapsed into a heap of wracking sobs in front of my math teacher in high school because I was in school full time, socializing full time and working eight-hour days on the weekends, so couldn’t complete my math homework. Ironic, perhaps, that a yoga teacher would struggle so much with stress, but ask any one of us and we will probably tell you that’s how we got into this field in the first place.
When we fail to identify and separate from this inner critic, we allow it to impact our behavior and shape the direction of our lives. So how can we challenge this inner voice? Read More… More on Emotional Wellness
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love my future husband’s last name. But it’s still my name. And that, my friends, is the distilled essence of my predicament. Read More… More on Engagements & Proposals
Global flavors of LTE bands can be a hassle for travelers and firms making multiple versions of the same device, but Qualcomm says its solved that quandary with a new radio chipset. Dubbed the RF360, the silicon is hailed as the world’s first mobile chip that packs support for global LTE, which translates to connectivity for LTE-FDD, LTE-TDD, WCDMA, EV-DO, CDMA 1x, TD-SCDMA and GSM / EDGE — breaking down the barriers separating roughly 40 different LTE bands. Not only does it lend globetrotters a hand, but Qualcomm claims the component carries a few other “world’s first” features that allow manufacturers to build thinner products with improved antenna performance, battery life and connection reliability. The outfit also unveiled the WTR1625L chip, which stakes claim to an industry first by sporting carrier aggregation alongside international LTE compatibility. Hardware made with the RF360 isn’t expected to arrive on shelves until the latter half of 2013, but for now you can mosey past the break for the nitty gritty details and a video to walk you through them.
Whaaaaat? The Devil Wears Prada’s Mike Hranica wrote a book? And it’s called One & A Half Hearts, looking back on the creation of the band’s last album Dead Throne, which debuted at #10 on Billboard‘s Top 200? No frakin’ way! (Yes, shameless Battlestar Galactica ref, and why the hell didn’t Syfy commission a Blood & Chrome series from that killer pilot, but I digress…)
Oscar nominee “Django Unchained” has been called “ferociously profane” and “disturbing,” but the movie has certainly never been considered “cute.” Until now, that is. A shot of 2-and-a-half-year-old Sophia Storino posed as Quentin Tarantino is so adorable that it’s easy to forget this is a film filled with the actor/writer/director’s trademark profanity and gore.
The image was made by mom of two Maggie Storino for her Tumblr “Don’t Call Me Oscar” which went live last year with parody stills from all the best picture nominees. Now, Maggie is back with the 2013 versions, starring Sophia, Sophia’s 1-year-old little sister Sadie, and their 2-year-old friend Hudson. The results are delightful — even if you have no idea what any of the films are about because you haven’t been to the movies since you had kids yourself. (Not that we know anything about that.)
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
Image via 
images via 
