Hasta La Gadget!

The point of shopping online is because it is possibly cheaper and more convenient, which is why we have to wonder what is the point of launching actual physical retail stores without any products in them. This is what Chinese e-commerce company, Yihaodian, has decided to do when they revealed that they will be launching 1,000 supermarkets around China that do not actually stock any physical product, but rather show the images of the product along with a QR code that can be scanned and used to buy the items, which will then be delivered to homes.

We’re not sure if this will be useful or simply a novel concept, but it is not the first time it has come up. Yihaodian has already done something similar on a smaller scale by sticking up posters in subway and bus stations, while in South Korea, Tesco has launched something similar where customers can shop for groceries at the subway while waiting for their trains. Interesting concept what do you guys think? Does it make sense to go to a brick and mortal store to scan buy items and wait for them to be delivered, when you can do that and take them home with you straight away at a normal supermarket?

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Here’s some bad news if you’re a con and you want to keep up with your friends on the outside: if somebody sends you printed-out Facebook pages, they’ll get confiscated. The confirmation comes via Mark Nixon’s appeal, which was rejected by the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Mark Nixon, who is currently incarcerated in a medium-security prison in Pennsylvania, had accomplices send him printed Facebook pages. They were taken away, and he brought a civil rights case in Federal court. He lost, appealed, and then lost the appeal. (more…)

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Do you remember the character Linus in the Peanuts strip? He had this particular comfort blanket that he needed in order to remain sane, and there are some kids, no doubt about it, who do need a favorite soft toy or pillow beside them before they are able to get some shuteye. Well, the Japanese have come up with the Hug & Dream Minnie Mouse doll which stimulates slow, gentle breaths, helping relax (hopefully, anyways) the would-be sleeper which eventually should send him or her to bed.

The Hug & Dream Minnie Mouse doll is not some sort of toy which was dreamt up in a basement somewhere by a toymaker while smoking weed – no sir, Takara Tomy, the famous toy making company from Japan, teamed up with cognitive and respiratory specialist Ikuo Honma to give birth to the Hug & Dream Minnie Mouse doll. Coming in muted colors, it avoids one of the main rules of keeping folks awake – mind-stimulating shades. The Hug & Dream Minnie Mouse doll will retail for slightly north of $50 if you are interested.

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If you’re the sort of person who likes checking in to locations via apps like Foursquare, you might be familiar that in certain locations, Foursquare offers deals to those who check in, such as discounts, especially to “Mayors” of the place. Now it seems that Foursquare is looking expand beyond just offering “Mayors” discounts, but to everyone and anyone who checks in based on different parameters. This feature is expected to allow businesses to come up with deals and offers that target specific user bases, and is also for a way for foursquare to monetize its service.

This is according to one of Foursquare’s founders, Dennis Crowley, in an interview with Sarah Lacy at PandoMonthly. He also revealed the importance of being smart and precise when targeting users and was quoted as saying, “You can build a big business making a lot of money off each user, not just amassing more users and showing dumb banner ads.” The system is currently being tested on an extremely small scale of 25 customers, so if you are looking forward to getting good deals and discounts when you check into a location, it will be a while before it becomes widely available, but it should be something worth looking forward to nonetheless.

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Researchers at the University of North Carolina, in conjunction with the U.S. Army Research Office, crafted the beautiful design you see at the top out of germanium sulfide, which is a semi-conductor material. But they didn’t fabricate the nanoflower because it looked pretty. These beautiful real-life fractals could be the key to multiplying battery capacity and solar panel efficiency. (more…)

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