Website Overstock now accepting bitcoin

Bitcoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin. What are we to do with you? Not a lot of people know about you, far less understand you or how you work, you’re super unstable and yet you’re growing. You’re the new in thing to talk about in media and that somehow continues to be the new in thing to talk about as if you know what you’re talking about.

Honesty corner: We don’t really know what we’re talking about when it comes to Bitcoin, but this is what we do know: It’s a cybercurrency that is created, distributed and authenticated outside of banks or governments.

People mine for them using their own computers by assisting other people’s Bitcoin transactions. And then they have them, and they can spend them. Right? We’re learning! We feel like it might be a thing we really need to learn, because it’s moving from a thing that you read about on the internet, to a thing that people are using as proper currency on the internet quite quickly.

Case in point: Online discount retailer Overstock.com is now accepting Bitcoin. In fact, more than 800 purchases, equaling $130,000 were made in the first 24 hours the company was accepting the cybercurrency.

Patrick Byrne, the company’s chariman and CEO had this to say:

“Digital currency will be an important part of the future and Overstock is excited to be the first major online shopping retailer to accept it,” said Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com chairman and CEO. ”As one who believes in limited government, this attracts me because it is a form of money that no government mandarin can will it into existence.”

More retailers are saying they will be accepting Bitcoin – most recently the Sacramento Kings, making them the first professional sports franchise to accept them starting on March 1st this year in the team store and in ticket sales.

Kings owner Vivek Ranadive says accepting Bitcoins is the next step in allowing fans to leave their wallets at home. Solving situations like this one, at the very least;

Other companies such as Paypal are considering making the move to accepting the currency in the future. In the meantime they are perhaps waiting for it to stabilize, perhaps they too are unsure of what the consequences are of accepting the currency. On Thursday, one Bitcoin was worth approximately $850.

Meanwhile, Kanye West has sued, and won against similar cybercurrency Coinye for using his image. Silly Fish Sticks. Doesn’t he know it’s the way of the future? We could’ve all been using Coinye!

Images courtesy of Watchdog.org, Fundaminer.com, Quickmeme & Dailymail.co.uk.

iPhone Tip Of The Day!

Wassup kids? IT’S ALMOST THE WEEKEND!!

Want an extra way to see all the phone calls and text messages you’re getting inviting you to awesome parties this weekend?

We got you!

Your iPhone can give you a visual alert for incoming calls and texts. Just go to Settings > General > Accessibility and turn on LED Flash for Alerts.

It’s like your phone’s already getting the party started!!

Image courtesy of Quickmeme.

Another Google secret!

Happy Humpday!

Wednesday is almost Thursday. Thuuuuursday is so close to being friday which is pretty much the weekend and the weekend means beers and the beach right? Or, wait, family quality time. That’s what we meant.

To help you guys out with some Wednesday afternoon procrastination for the nation, how about some time with the original ladies man?

No, not that guy! Pacman, duh!

Originally bought out by Google for the 30th anniversary of Pacman on May 22, 2010, the link is essentially an easter egg where instead of searching for stuff you need to find out about, you can play Pacman!

It was so greatly received and proved to be so popular, Google left it there on the internet. Just for you guys!

What heroes. Kinda like this guy!

Here’s the link! http://www.google.com/doodles/30th-anniversary-of-pac-man

Also take note: Clicking on the right and left arrows will also take you through a gallery of previous Google ‘Doodles’ celebrating various anniversaries and special dates.

Image courtesy of Simpsons.wikia.com, Fightersgeneration & Cattime.

iPhone Tip Of The Day!

iOS 7 Users!

Want to block that pesky ex girlfriend/boyfriend/odd person who you used to say hello to in gym class and now calls you just to say ‘uh, so whatsup best friend forever?’

Yes siree you do!

Here’s what you do.

Settings > Phone > Blocked. Add their phone number to the list.

No more of this!  ( On the phone at least).

Your welcome.

Image courtesy of Memestache

iPhone Tip Of The Day

In iOS 7, swiping right to left will get rid of a notification without opening it!

Image courtesy of Quickmeme

Not All iPhone Cases Are Created Equal

The best way to cover up your precious iPhone, useful, protective, beautiful.

1.Pico Genie A100

All the tech heads I know are far more excited about projector technology over TV technology. Please step forward, the Pico Genie. This is an iPhone case, yes, but it also has a built in pico projector, extended battery and external speakers for your iPhone. Project your favorite movies, photos, anything on your iPhone onto an available wall and have yourself your own little cinema experience. Amazing. Seemingly only available for sale in the UK for the moment, you can order it online for around $392

2.Opena Case

The worlds first iPhone case with a slide out bottle opener. Get in. As their slogan says, ‘How about a beer with your iPhone?’ Uh, yes please? Free standard shipping, available in black or white. $39.95

3. Griffin Survivor Extreme Duty

This is if you are not only the ultimate clutz, but everyone around you is too. This case passed military endurance testing ( tested to meet or exceed US Department of Defense MIL-STD-810 and UK Department of Defense Def-Stan 00-35 through an independent testing procedure). This is some secure stuff. Drop your iPhone, throw it against a wall, leave it in the rain, sandstorm, duststorm, stamp on it in frustration- this case will protect it. $49.9

4.Knucklecase

Rihanna has one. Enough? No? This is an iPhone case that has a knuckleduster attached. To keep it attached to your fingers, mind. And look badass. Silver and shiny and pretty in a totally awesome way. $99.00

5. Proporta Amphibian iPhone Case

Lucky enough to be scuba diving? Snorkeling, in a pool? This is for you. Go on, make us all jealous. You can make and receive calls and take photos underwater, and it’s not some weird baggy thing, it’s a case. The Proporta Amphibian makes your iPhone 100% guaranteed waterproof to 3 metres (9 feet) underwater. $33.00

Honourable Mentions: There are two honourable mentions, for both being amazing technology, but also for not being available quite yet. The Nissan Scratch Shield and Magnifi. One is very useful and very cool, the other is very, very cool, but perhaps only useful to so many iPhone users.

The Nissan Scratch shield is a protective, self-healing iphone case. Nissan says that a small graze can heal within an hour while deeper cuts could take up to a week to fix. What?? The case is not on the market yet- but will be on sale in North America very soon.

Magnifi is another kickstarter project and is the world’s first universal photoadapter case for the iPhone. It connects the camera on your iPhone to your favorite optical instrument, allowing you to take pictures and video through the eyepiece. This includes binoculars, microscopes, telescopes and almost anything else with an eyepiece. Available soon.

The Future is Now – Top 5 iPhone Accessories

Yes, your iPhone is cool. Yes, you’re cool for having an iPhone. But wait- there’s more! Here are the top five coolest, craziest, best iPhone accessories for your iPhone.

 Be cooler.

1. Freeloader Pico Solar Rechargeable iPhone Charger

Everyone knows that whilst your iPhone is cool, the battery life is the least cool aspect. We all want our phones to last for as long as possible before we try and find our charger to make us tied to one spot. This a a great, environmentally friendly accessory to try and fight that tied-down feeling. Using advanced solar cell and lithium ion battery technologies, PICO takes only 30 minutes to deliver its power to your iPhone. PICO can be powered from both its own solar cell or from connection to a PC or lap top (cable supplied). $39.99

2. The Kogeto Dot 360 panoramic video

Once this is on your iPhone, you’re free to start taking fully 360 degree videos. This accessory makes your iPhone able to record everything. Everything. Once you’ve captured absolutely everything around you, wherever you may be, or be doing, you can share it with your friends via facebook, twitter etc. It’s like inviting your friends into a 3D version of your life. Started on the website kickstarter.com, this is an amazing app. While it seems futuristic, the future is, apparently, now.

Available in different colours, $49.00

3. iPhone Photo Printer by Hammacher Schlemmer

Using nothing other than a free downloadable app and this tiny teeny printer that you dock your iPhone into, you can get brilliant quality photo prints ( 1, 4, or 10 images on each 4 inch by 6 inch borderless sheet) from your iPhone photos. It takes less than a minute and is smudge proof, tear proof, fade and water resistant. Pictures are worth a thousand words right? $159.95.

4.Vuzix Wrap 310 XL Video eyewear

This wicked accessory lets you be kinda like a spy, wearing cool dark glasses, sitting there not actually watching what’s in front of you ( like your boring job or boring commute to said job) but instead watching any movie or video on your iPhone or iPad, through your sunglasses. It displays both standard 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios and is super cool. $169.99.

5. Microscope lens for iPhone 4 – 3B Scientific iPhone Microscope 100X Magnification

Want to see if you have bed bugs? Or the really tiny little bits of, well, everything? This is for you, and it’s kind of unbelievable that this technology is available. It’s literally an accessory that turns your iPhone into a microscope. You can even take photos of all that microscopic awesomeness and share it with your friends. Around $45 Amazon.

Go get ’em.

Some Awesome iPhone Shortcuts

A helpful time saving trick for using your iPhone is using shortcuts. Most useful for writing emails or texts, you can for example use the shortcut ‘hme’ and the phone will fill in your prescribed sentence, ” Will be home soon’ or, ‘meets’ for ‘in a meeting right now, I will call you back as soon as I can’ or ‘fce’ for ‘I’m sorry I drew genetalia on your face when you were passed out last night’.

So many uses.

You can set up your shortcuts on your phone by going to Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts.

Just be careful- your friends could read this too and this could happen to you–

Cool iPhone Web Browser Features

Are you looking to save an image that you have hit across the web suddenly? Well, here’s something that may come handy for you. When you are going through the picture on your Safari browser, simply hold on to the image and you will be prompted with an option to ‘save image.’ Just save it and you can use it as wallpaper or screensaver.

Well, the Safari browser also offers some short-cut options—like if you are looking to type a website address, you can easily omit the .com extension in the URL box and land directly into the website page. Also, you can choose the other extensions like .edu or .gov by pressing down the .com button for longer time period.

We’ve mentioned it before, but thought it might be handy to mention it in the context of the web browser.  Here is how to take a screenshot! It’s pretty easy—just press down the Home button while taping the Lock button—click! And you have your screenshot.

Hope it helps!

How your iPhone can save your life

We all know what your iPhone can do for your social life- let you keep in contact with all your friends, help you meet new ones, keep up with all the new trends, etc. But it is important to know that your iPhone can also literally save your life. Whatever kind of emergency you may find yourself in, there are ways your iPhone can help you – apart from dialling 911- that you need to be aware of.

How many of you know CPR? How many of you know it but fear that you ( or the person doing it to you) might freeze up when it came down to it? Firstly, if you don’t know CPR, download the new CPR guide. It’s free, has a step by step how-to guide and has the ability to dial worldwide emergency numbers from every screen.
If it’s the freeze that has you worried, tell everyone you know that is actually trained in CPR and you know won’t freeze to download The Fire Department App. Once they’ve signed up, this app intercepts data from 911 calls and using the iPhone’s GPS, will alert them and anyone in the area trained in CPR– so help can get there faster. It also alerts that person to where the nearest defibrillator is. Invaluable.

A fantastic app that you should know about is PanicGuard. This app has the ability to bring great comfort for those who worry about the safety of their daughters/sons/brothers/sisters/friends, etc. All you need to do is set up an account on their website and install the app on your iPhone. If you find yourself going into a worrying or potentially dangerous situation, turn the app on, and PanicGuard will track your movements until you switch it off.
If the potential danger turns into actual danger, just shake your iPhone vigorously and it will begin to emit a very loud alarm and trigger your iPhone’s flash in an attempt to scare off anyone who might be trying to do you harm.
Once the alarm has been activated your iPhone will send a text to your chosen emergency contacts, letting them know that you are in danger and your exact location. The beauty of this app is that once the alarm stops, the phone returns to the home screen to fool anyone else into thinking that the alarm is over. It actually starts recording a short video in case anyone around you needs to be identified at a later time, and uploads the video in case the iPhone is broken or smashed.

A less intense, but still important app is Circle of 6, created specifically for college students. This app lets you pick six friends, representing them with icons on your screen which you press in a situation where you might need help. It also sends your exact location to whichever friend you choose. Although this app can also be used for scary situations, they are very useful for situations less serious, and in need of a little subtlety, such as needing to be interrupted on a bad date, needing advice, and needing to be picked up because you had a few too many drinks. All of which are important.

Hopefully you won’t ever need your iPhone to save anything except your social life, but just in case, it is very comforting to know that this technology can be in our hands, on hand, to help us if need be.