Textbook delivery by drone
An Australian start-up is launching a commercial drone textbook delivery service. Yes, really (note: I seriously thought this was a joke at first). The company, called Flirtey, is parting with bookseller/renter Zookal to make it happen. You can watch this video about the service and how it’ll all work.
Apple announces October 22nd event
The invite says they still “a lot to cover” so folks are in a frenzy trying to figure out what they’ll unveil. Most rumors involve new iPads, iPad minis, and refreshed Macbooks. Of course, if you’re in the market for an Apple device, you might be able to get a good deal on the “older” models once the new ones are released. Stay tuned next week to see what happens.
Nike releases new FuelBand SE
The new Nike FuelBand SE looks almost exactly like previous editions of their fitness tracker, but the guts have been upgraded. According to reports, it’ll do a better job at tracking your activity (and not errand wrist flicks), has better weather sealing, it’ll remind you to get moving, and has an updated iOS app. You can score you own starting November 6th for $149.
Square Cash lets you send cash using email and your debit card
Square announced a pretty interesting service this week – Square Cash. Square is the maker of the Square credit card reader that turns any smartphone into a cash register, so a cash service seems like a natural expansion. Here’s a graphic from their website that explains how simply it works:
Square claims it’s” 100 percent secure” and the service is free, but they do limit you to $250 weekly limit. You can raise that limit to $2,500 when you give additional information such as a mobile phone number for text message verification and link your Facebook account, or you can opt to add your full name, date of birth and the last 4 digits of your SSN instead. The service works with any email client and they have apps for iOS and Android. The LA Times compared a few of the popular cash sending services against Square in yesterday’s edition. I haven’t used the others really, but kind of want to give Square Cash a try because it sounds so easy. Maybe we can stop keeping actual dollar bills around for our kids’ allowances and just start using Square Cash? 😉
Facebook alert: teens can now post publicly
Facebook changed their privacy settings (again) this week. Users under 18 can now post publicly where they couldn’t before. The Newsfeed default setting is “friends only”, but be aware this setting can now be changed.
***Friday fun: Calvin & Hobbs creator grants rare interview***
Bill Watterson, the uber-private creator of Calvin & Hobbs, granted an interview to Mental Floss. A portion of the interview is available here, but you’ll have to pick up a copy of their December issue for the full scoop.
