2014
De-stressing transforming tea bags
These specially designed teabags start off in a "stressed out shape" and then slowly transform into a more relaxed version of that shape when dunked in hot water. This creative idea was hatched by the bright minds at M&C Saatchi (link) for the BOH tea company (link). It's a great visual reminder to just take a minute and relax.
Google IO Attendees get cardboard and a watch
Google IO 2014 was clearly a love-fest for developers and Sundar thanked them for making the Android platform great. He acknowledged that many developers come to Google IO for the latest and greatest swag. Attendees to the 2014 edition of Google IO will each get a carefully designed piece of cardboard that turns into a smartphone cradling Virtual Reality headset. They also get the choice of the LG G Watch or the Samsung Gear Live. <img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/e2c50c8b2f.jpg" alt=""> Attendees will be eligible to receive a free Moto 360 when it becomes available later this year or as they said "
Google Play a success for developers
Obviously Apple is the 800 lb gorilla in the app store room so developers often wonder if the Google Play store is worth the investment. Sundar Pichai revealed that Google has now paid out 5B$ to developers from its Google Play AppStore since the last Google IO. Which is 2.5X year over year growth. In Contrast Apple has paid out 15B$ to developers from AppStore sales so far “Apple’s incredible developers have now earned $15 billion on the App Store.
Video showing Google's Android Everywhere vision
Google is clearly pitching an Android Everywhere strategy. They want it to run on your wrist, in your car, on your TV, phone, tablet and laptop. Google has put all the pieces together in this short video illustrating their vision.
When travelling, should you use cash, credit card or debit card?
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“667”]Image by Steven Depolo under Creative Commons License [/caption] The question I get asked the most is "When travelling, should I use cash, credit card or debit card?" Cash is accepted everywhere It's important to remember that regardless of where you travel, the surest most certain form of value exchange is the US dollar. For every trip, I always make sure I have a comfortable amount of US dollars in various denominations spread out throughout me (you never want to pull out a wad of cash in the middle of the street in a foreign country.
The best Travel backpack
Travelling is a wonderful experience filled with new emotions, experiences and memories. Unfortunately travelling unprepared may mean these turn out to be negative emotions, horrible experiences and terrible memories. Typically a wonderful experience turns bad when a traveller has his/her most important items stollen (think passport credit cards, traveller checks, money, etc). Unfortunately tourists are targets for theft in too many countries and they have to take special precautions. Over the years I have tried several dozen products to keep my valuables safe but the one I keep coming back to is my PacSafe (link) backpack.
Watch the Google IO Keynote Live
How to Watch the Google IO keynote live stream today Google IO (I/O) starts today at 9:00am PDT and you can watch the keynote live. We expect the introduction of the next major Android Release (release L) which should be a major visual overhaul. Google understands that it must innovate to stay ahead of the curve, now that Apple's IOS8 brings many of Android's customization to the IOS world (third party keyboard, rich notifications and inter-app communication). Many sites will try to capture you and force you to watch the live stream to an imbed in their own site, not me.
Darklight is a great free iphone photo editor
There are hundreds upon hundreds of photo editing apps on the Apple AppStore. Each one with its own twist on photo editing. Any given month, I test several dozen new apps and most get installed, tested then quickly deleted but I recently stumbled on the DarkLight (link) iphone photo editor and its found a permanent home in my iPhone. Not only has DarkLight earned the status of permanent app on my phone but it has also become my (usually) go-to photo editing app on my iPhone.
Halfbrick Studios games are temporarily free
Halfbrick is a popular IOS game development house whose most popular creation is Fruit Ninja. Halfbrick has made this game completely free [for now] for the first time ever : saving you $1 on iphone and $3 on the ipad. Not stopping there, other Halfbrick games have also been priced at FREE temporarily. Get them while the getting is good. Monster Dash (link) Fish Out Of Water! (link) Colossatron: Massive World Threat (link) Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots (link) Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots HD (link) Jetpack Joyride (link)
25% coupon code for all Nomad products
There is a saying in photography “The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You” — Chase Jarvis A $5,000 super sophisticated camera doesn't help you capture that special moment if it isn't with you. This is why smartphone photography has really taken the world by storm (since our smartphones are always with us). I have the same issue with charging cables. Over the years I have bought hundreds of cables ranging from cheap chinese knockoffs to expensive high quality manufacturer sold ones.
Apple European USB chargers may be dangerous
Apple has announced a USB Adapter replacement program for Europe. This recall affects both in box and sold-separately USB adapters. Apple says they may "overheat" and "pose a safety risk". These adapters were sold or delivered with iPhones from 2009 until 2012. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="350"]<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/5af4e16b81.jpg" alt=" Model A1300 - affected model "> Model A1300 - affected model [/caption] [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="350"]<img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/7740bbe382.jpg" alt=" Model A1400 - New unaffected model "> Model A1400 - New unaffected model [/caption] You can access Apple's information page here (link)
Every project manager should be performing a pre-mortem
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2500”]Image by StockMonkeys.com [/caption] As a business leader, I have participated in and managed hundreds of post-mortem reviews for projects and deals. It is a sound strategy to identify the elements that failed or that could be optimized/ “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana But what if you could gain all of the benefits of this activity before the initiative fails thus potentially saving it? A pre-mortem (or premortem) basically is a role playing game where participants assume the project has already failed and then determine why it failed and how failure could have been prevented.
Starbucks and Duracell to offer wireless charging
Starbucks and Duracell are partnering up for a nationwide rollout of wireless charging tables at select Starbucks locations (US only). Startbucks is providing the table and power while Duracell is providing their Powermat technology. The dynamic duo is expected to install over 100,000 Duracell Powermats when everything is said and done. You will be able to buy Powermat accessories at the participating Starbucks. You can find participating locations on the Starbucks webpage (link).
Google in talks to buy Songza
Apple bough Beats and now NT Post (link) is reporting that Google may be in talks to buy popular streaming service Songza. Apple paid approximately $500M for Beats' streaming service which is believed to have less than 250,000 subscribers. Google is reportedly offering 15M$ for Songza which has 5.5M active users. Songza has a unique approach to music recommendations. You choose what you are doing and they recommend a custom tailors human curated playlist for that activity. This approach works really well and this is one of my main music go to services.
Windows 8 is dead so don't waste your money
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“455”]Image by IsaacMao under Creative Commons License [/caption] There is no denying Windows Vista was a total flop. So much so that Microsoft did everything to quickly move away and erase it from our memory. One of the best connected Microsoft watchers, Paul Thurrot says "Can we call Windows 8 the new Vista? Not so fast, analyst says." Call it what you want. That's what they call it inside of Microsoft. — Paul Thurrott (@thurrott) January 17, 2014 Paul then follows up with
Get 8 Free country songs from itunes (USA only)
People magazine has an interesting (USA only) offer of 8 free popular country songs from iTunes. These are popular on the chart songs (not old has been ones). Head over to their special promo page (link) and enter the unique promo code they generate for you in the Redeem box of your itunes client (mobile or desktop).
IOS from the eyes of a security person
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2500”]Image by Donald Lee Pardue under Creative Commons License [/caption] When I read Apple's 33 page IOS Security Paper I was blown away (link). Not because its perfect security but it is as close to perfect as it can get in a generally usable commercial product. This unprecedented look inside the Apple security hive mind answered many of my questions and reaffirmed my belief that Apple makes the most secure general use electronics around. At WWDC, I had high hopes and Apple exceeded even my wildest expectations.
Google wants easy end-to-end email encryption in Chrome
Sending an email is akin to mailing a postcard. Everything written in it can easily be read, copied or analyzed by any one of the email transfer points. It is this simple fact that motivates security advocates to push for email encryption. The main obstacle to mass adoption of email encryption is the complexity. It requires installation and configuration of special software. It requires the purchase or generation of you private/public keys. Google wants to change all of that and has released an alpha Chrome plug-in called End-to-End (link).
Chinese media demand sanctions against US tech companies
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2500”]Photo by Rene Mensen under Creative Commons License [/caption] 3 things we know governments will always do are: Tax Spend Spy The last point, fueled by the Ed Snowden leaks, seems to be keeping the media busy. Now the China-run state-owned media is calling on the Chinese government to sanction the major US technology companies who are "pawns of the US Government". China Daily and People's Daily have called upon their leaders to "severely punish" the companies mentioned in the Edward Snowden leaks.
$100 off Motorola MotoX for 48 hours (unlocked)
48-HOUR FLASH SUMMER #SALE. 32GB #MotoX or #devedition for $100 off (US Only): http://t.co/Fb9YbRoXsx pic.twitter.com/Tl1ijwu8Ra — Motorola Mobility (@Motorola) June 4, 2014 You can pickup my favourite Android phone (US only deal) for $100 off for 48 hours. This deal allows you to pickup a Kitkat powered android phone (unlocked) for about $300-400.