Jul 05
You could see Philippe Handford’s weird tree sculptures as somber reflections on life and the natural world and blah blah blah trees are alive, man. That’s fair, but really, this art is kind of funny too.
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Jul 05
If you love the look of plants on your desk, but have a nasty habit of killing them through neglect, consider this faux greenery as an alternative. What look like tall blades of grass are actually unfortunately-named Pooleaf pens with long wisps of silicone coming off the end.
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Jul 05
Gap Year Advice: 3 Great Reasons And 3 Terrible Reasons To Take Time Off Before College
Posted in: Today's ChiliBy Gillian Katz
For some students, the progression from high school directly into college life feels natural. For others, the transition is more uncertain and begs the question, “Isn’t there another way to spend my time after high school?” This transitional period does exist and it is usually called a gap year! The title “gap year” is simply derived from the idea that one spends a year away from learning and the normal routine to take a gap in their educational studies or, as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary so eloquently states, a gap year is “a one-year hiatus from academic studies to allow for non-academic activities.” This doesn’t mean you don’t learn on a gap year. The learning is usually more experience-based and independent. Gap years can be filled with almost any activity you choose, including working, traveling, and community service. But with unlimited opportunities comes serious thinking. If you are having trouble deciding whether or not to take a gap year, consider your motives.
Why You Should Consider A Gap Year
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Jul 05
Daniel Alfredsson Joins Detroit Red Wings For One Year, Stephen Weiss Signs Contract
Posted in: Today's ChiliDETROIT — Daniel Alfredsson is joining the Detroit Red Wings to make perhaps his final run at an elusive championship, and Stephen Weiss is in it for the long haul in the Motor City.
“I’m really excited to get this opportunity at this stage of my career to go for a Stanley Cup and fulfill a longtime dream,” the 40-year-old Alfredsson said on a conference call.
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Jul 05
One of the very great pleasures of being an (imbecilic) adult is going to department stores to buy something painfully mundane and taking a detour through the toy department. YOU CAN BUY ALL OF THIS STUFF. It’s there, for you, to buy, and you don’t have to ask anyone’s permission. I’ve, uh, been at Target a lot the past few weeks, and now there are way too many Nerf guns in my apartment. iPhone apps!
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Jul 05
Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their most recent picks. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt’s newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.
Jul 05
When I Said I Needed a Car Charger for My Phone, This Isn’t What I Had in Mind
Posted in: Today's ChiliExternal batteries are great to keep our mobile devices juiced up, but I’ve never seen one in a car form factor before. Now we have one. Japan Trust Technology (JTT) has introduced the GT5200 Coupe with a built-in lithium-ion battery that will charge your tablets and phones that are equipped with a microUSB port.
The Minicar GT5200 Coupe looks sort of like a BMW from the front, though it’s not any specific model that I can tell. It has a 5200mAh battery inside and is available in 4 colors: white, black, crimson red and deep blue. There is a display mounted on the sunroof, which shows the battery usage and of course, built-in LEDs in the headlights and tail lights that flash during charging. It will charge your device about 300-500 times.
The GT5200 Coupe charger is only 3980 yen (~$40 USD), though there’s no word on availability outside of Japan yet.
[via Damn Geeky]
Jul 05
I bought a case of flavored "wild berry" bottled water this week. It was an accident, I thought it was just regular old water, but no, it’s some foul mix of whatever the dentist gives you right before he gives you the water cup to spit that crap out and tin foil. But it’s what I have here, so I’m drinking it. And so, here are this week’s iPad apps. Metaphor.
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Jul 05
Ashley’s out this week, so you’re stuck with me for your apps coverage. Did you know that I use a Windows Phone? There’s a newish Domino’s app for Windows Phone that is pretty good but also it tricked me into ordering a Domino’s pizza when it came out, so I’m sort of holding a grudge. Here are some Android apps I haven’t ordered a pizza from (yet).
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Jul 05
It’s been five years since Apple first launched the App Store, the company this week celebrating the origins of the iOS-tending software vending environment with a bit of a silent wave. You may have seen the “Apple Celebrates 5 Years of the App Store” that’ve been appearing in tubes to the doors of Apple-friendlies: it’s there that you’ll be getting the same information we’ll be running down here. It begins with the launch of the store back on July 10th of 2008, not long after the iPhone was first launched (in June of 2007) and the first 10 million downloads were reached not long after.
From there the App Store downloads grew right alongside the widespread adoption of the iPhone itself, developers deciding they’d get onboard with what would become a rather lucrative enterprise. Just before 2009 rolled around, 100 million downloads were reached – the 500 million downloads mark appeared just 16 days into the year. Things sped up quite quickly from there.
It was April 24th, 2009 when Apple announced its first 1 Billion downloads. It was 9 months after the initial launch of the store, and Apple was so proud of the milestone that they decided to send out a prize: $10,000 in iTunes cash to the 1 billionth downloader. This became a tradition with Apple and has been ever since.
Fast forward to 2013 and we’ve seen a 40 billion download mark as well as a 50 billion download mark the company was so happy about, they announced it at WWDC 2013. The first few minutes of any major keynote address has held such numbers and high water marks with Apple – and they’ve begun counting side-stores as well.
You’ll find Apple’s iTunes U to have reached 1 billion downloads for schools and learning institutions, that system having been in play for approximately a year at the time (February of 2013.)
Inside 2013, the App Store is watched by the ravenous fans of the ecosystem with extreme scrutiny. Items like Vanity URLs and Age Recommendations have become newsworthy in and of themselves.
The download marks were joined by such milestones as the first 1 million approved apps – this having been met on November 19th of 2012. While Apple has generally focused on the number of live apps – not just an app total – in the app store, the dichotomy of actual living apps and the downloads they’ve spurred brings some instant perspective on a single apps’ reach.
Next we’ll see the next big milestone in devices – it was back in 2010 when the first iPad-optimized apps were introduced. Stick around as Apple reaches the next 50 billion downloads as well – any guesses on how long it’ll take for them to hit it?
Apple celebrates App Stores’ 5th Anniversary is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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