Finally a way to delete regrettable tweets and posts
If you’ve ever posted something you wished you hadn’t, you’re not alone. The maker of the new Clear app for iOS once had to resign a job due to the discovery of tweets some considered offensive. To help you evaluate the tone of your social media footprint Clear uses an algorithm to give you an overall score, and flags posts you may want to consider removing. Maybe even better, you have the option right from Clear to delete them so you don’t have to scroll through endless posts. If you’re job hunting, it might be something to consider!
Visual history of New York City in 47 seconds
The new World Trade Center will have elevators that play a timelapse video of the history of New York. Have you seen it yet? (it went pretty viral on Facebook this week). It’s pretty cool!
Android Wear watch gets big update
On Monday Adroid Wear watches got a big update that included three new features. First, Android Wear now lets you flip your wrist to flip through the screens. And, now you can draw you own emjoi if the pre-loaded ones aren’t what you need. Finally, Android Wear owners will also get Wi-Fi support so it can connect to your phone and get notifications even if you forgot it at home. These changes might not seem super big on the surface, but it’s certainly part of Google’s strategy to keep up with (or beat) the Joneses/Apple.
LED bulbs for less than $5
Phillips is unveiling a 60 watt equivalent LED lightbulb that’s going to cost a little less than $5 a piece ($4.97, to be exact). If you’ve ever priced LEDs, you know this is a great price – even better? They’ll be available at Home Depot starting May 1 or, if you’d really like a deal, head to their website now and get two for the price of one!
New BMW will park itself—without you in it
No, for real. You use a remote control and you don’t have to be sitting in the car to park your 7 series – you just need the “display key” (which doesn’t look much like a traditional key). Once you DO get inside the car, you’ll find out it has gesture control so you can control things like the stereo volume and accept and reject calls by just using a few movements. The car also is sporting something you can’t really see – lots of carbon fiber to make the frame lighter, but more rigid. The one thing we don’t know? What it looks like. The video says you won’t have to wait much longer to find out.
The U.S. threw out 7.1 million tons of electronic waste last year
Earth Day was Wednesday so let’s take a moment to think about the 7.1 MILLION TONS (sixteen billion pounds) of e-waste is a LOT of materials that could pollute our environment. Please recycle your old TVs, printers, microwaves, cameras, phones, etc. and don’t just toss them in the trash. Best Buy stores will take up to three items per day and most municipalities have information about how to recycle your e-waste.
OSX security flaw still not really fixed
The problem was discovered in late January, and about 14 days ago Apple said their new Yosemite patch would plug the security hole – but now some are saying it didn’t fix the problem. Why is it a big deal? The “flaw enables nefarious types to get root access to your system by exploiting a backdoor in the system preferences app. Essentially, this enables any hacker to make themselves the administrator of your computer, with all of the terrible consequences that come with it” (Engadget). No comment yet from Apple, but download any system updates, just in case.
Amazon Destinations takes on the travel industry
This week Amazon’s newest shopping angle went public—Amazon Destinations. Interestingly though, it’s not about far-and-away travel. Instead, it’s about finding places to go within driving distance of your home. Right now, the options are focused around three major metropolitan areas: New York, LA, and Seattle. The new site is currently tucked under Amazon Local. No word when the options will move beyond these three city areas.
Google’s new wireless service: Project Fi
I generally don’t cover a lot of wireless news here, but this was HOT news on the tech blogs this week. Google is leveraging T-Mobile’s and Sprint’s networks and is letting people pay only for data they use. Rather than going into detail here, if you’re curious, you should really read Engadget’s summary—it explains not only how it all works, but goes over some of the numbers (like, is it really a good deal?).
Indigogo of the week: Couchlet
Admit it—the place you most need a USB port is on your couch or you bed—often places not conveniently located by an outlet. The inventors of Couchlet understand your pain. They developed a double USB port that nests between your couch cushions or by your mattress. It’s basically a well-designed extension cord for your electronics so you’ve always got a place to plug in—my kids would be all over this! For $16, you can have one of your very own.
