Fun things to do on a sick day

Being optimistic is one of the essential things involved in recovering from illness, which is why it is imperative to try and have fun if you’re having a sick day off work. Being sick doesn’t mean you have to keep yourself confined to bed, unless of course your condition is particularly bad. 

If you’re worried about wasting time because you’re sick, look no further. This article seeks to help you think about ways you can spend your sick day that involve you making most of the time off work, as well as having fun!

Gamble!

Of course, if you’re taking the day off work because you’re sick, you definitely shouldn’t be seen near a casino. But thanks to the wide availability of gambling apps available now, you don’t have to even leave the house.

Playing online slots is a pretty fun way to do away with the time; who knows, you may even make some money by doing it! Log onto Grosvenor Casinos to check out some fun slot games you can get involved in.

Finish the unfinished

Having a day off work is a good way of completing all the bits and bobs that you haven’t been able to. It’s hard to finish reading that novel if you’ve been reading tax transcripts all day at work; now that you have the whole day off, you can curl up by the fire and finish it, finally.

Other things you can finish off while you’re at home also include the backlog of unfinished video games that’s been building up. This is especially appropriate if you’re one of those people who never really finish a game because it’s too hard, leave it for ages and then buying a new one.

Getting over that final enemy hurdle will give you a feeling of satisfaction, guaranteed to lift your spirits.

Do some chores

Not exactly everyone’s idea of fun, but it definitely paves the way for guilt-free fun over the weekend! If your house is messy and the reason is that you’re too busy to clean, use the day off work to do some casual, laid-back cleaning up.

Start with your room – get all that dirty laundry out of there, and clean everything else up thoroughly. There’s no rush if you start early, so you don’t have to stress yourself out.

If you’re feeling up to it, do a little vacuum cleaning as well. Maybe now you can actually bleach the dirty tiled floor in your kitchen.

The upside to all of this is that you won’t have to waste time over the weekend cleaning up. It feels good to get on top of things once in a while.

Twitter Killing TweetDeck for iPhone and Android

Twitter will shut down multiple TweetDeck apps to focus on the product's web-based version, the microblogging service announced Monday.

In yet another sign of the battle between social media's two biggest players, Facebook integration will be removed, too.

The announcement was met largely with a chorus of "nooooooooo," "whyyyyyyy" and "gaaaaaaaah" on social media, reflecting TweetDeck's widespread popularity with hardcore Twitter users.

TweetDeck AIR, TweetDeck for iPhone and TweetDeck for Android will be removed from their respective app stores in May, and stop working soon after, according to a TweetDeck blog post.

"To continue to offer a great product that addresses your unique needs, we’re going to focus our development efforts on our modern, web-based versions of TweetDeck," the post says.

TweetDeck is a well-regarded Twitter client that the microblogging network bought in 2011.

Moving forward, TweetDeck's web and Chrome apps will be the first that Twitter enhances with updates and new features, while the Mac and PC apps will continue to evolve as well.

Your final couple months using TweetDeck's AIR, Android and iPhoneversions may not be smooth sailing, either. Those apps will continue to rely on version one of Twitter's API, which will be retired this month. Blackout testing on version one begins March 5, so mobile TweetDeck users will likely begin experiencing outages with their apps on Tuesday.

"In many ways, doubling down on the TweetDeck web experience and discontinuing our app support is a reflection of where our TweetDeck power-users are going," the post reads before later adding: "And for those of you who are inconvenienced by this shift, our sincere apologies."

Is this a pain, or not such a big deal? Give us your take in the comments.

Photo courtesy Flickr, Andy Miah

[Source: Mashable]

Jony Ive Ordered Boxes Full of Nike Watches in the Mid-2000s

Bloomberg today published a story on the much rumored Apple smart watch, offering information on potential functionality and profitability. The article also hinted at possible design cues for the iWatch, highlighting Apple designer Jony Ive's intense interest in watches, specifically those manufactured by Nike in the mid-2000s. 

Apple design chief Jony Ive has long had an interest in watches. Besides owning many high-end models himself, he had his team visit watch factories and ordered boxes of a sports watch made by Nike Inc. in the mid-2000s, said Wilson, who was then Nike's creative director.

New information from Business Insider reveals that Scott Wilson sent Jony Ive the Nike Presto Digital Bracelets and the Oregon Series Alti-Compass watches, which were manufactured in 2002–2004. 

Both of these watches feature clean, simple designs. The Presto Digital Bracelet is a cuff-style wraparound watch with a translucent plastic body, while the Oregon Series Alti-Compass has an aluminum face.

Well, he didn't buy them. We just gave them to them as designer bro deals. He and others in the design group just requested them and we sent them a ton of Nike Presto Digital Bracelets and the aluminum Oregon Series Alti-Compass watches. Was flattered that they were requesting them.

Wilson goes on to say that after receiving the watches, Apple asked questions about materials and processes.

This meshes up with their research in watch manufacturing during that timeframe which has been documented in previous stories. They definitely drew upon watch industry techniques and manufacturing in their products since the first iPhone. Interesting that it may come full circle to an actual iWatch at some point.

A patent application found last week suggested that Apple might be looking at a watch with a wraparound design, a touchscreen, and a flexible glass display, but it remains unclear what the actual watch might look like. 

Apple is said to have a team of 100 product designers working on the watch. The watch isrumored to run the full version of iOS and though a release date remains unclear,Bloomberg has suggested that it could launch as early as 2013.

[Source: MacRumors]

Next version of Windows Phone on course for Christmas 2013

While Microsoft isn't ditching its users all over again -- like the Windows Phone 7 fiasco -- it is busy preparing the next major version of the Windows Phone operating system, with a new job posting confirming that it will be launching in time for Christmas.

"This is a great time to join, as we're completing our current release [and] are getting ready for our next release targeting the holiday of this year," the ad says. 

Other recent job postings have confirmed that Microsoft is working on the Windows Blue strategy for both the desktop and Windows Phone operating systems. If the next major release of Windows Phone is due to be released towards the end of the year, that could mean the phone version is on a different schedule to the desktop version, which has a mid-2013 rumoured release date.

Windows Phone 8 has already seen one update, dubbed 'Portico' -- known internally as General Distribution Release 1 (GDR1). Portico brought minor features such as always-on Wi-Fi and ability to reject calls with an SMS, but there are more of these sort of updates on the way before the next major version of the OS.

Mary Jo Foley, of our sister site ZDNet, reported last week that the rumoured HTC 'Tiara' Windows Phone was running on a later version of the Windows Phone OS, known as 'GDR2'. This is again only meant to be a minor improvement to Windows Phone 8, and will be delivered before Windows Phone Blue. Her sources have confirmed that there is also a GDR3 on the roadmap, which is due to arrive before the next major update.

Windows Phone 7.8 is also rumoured to be getting an update -- although much of this is not known, except from an alleged roadmap from Nokia.

The guy in charge of Windows Phone's development, Joe Belfiore, has said the team hasidentified a bug which was causing the live tiles to stop updating, which is presumably going to be fixed in an upcoming update -- because what's a Windows Phone without its live tiles?

Microsoft did not have a press conference at Mobile World Congress last week, unlike last year when it revealed more information about Windows 8. The company has also recently been very quiet on the future of any of its products -- with only the Surface Pro's availability announced by the firm in recent months.

Greg Sullivan, a senior marketing manager at Microsoft, explained to Pocket-Lint the reasoning behind the company's recent quietness about the future of the Windows Phone platform. "We are taking a different approach on announcements this year," he said.

Microsoft has learnt from its previous mistakes of announcing a product and then waiting six months to detail it more, before waiting a further five months to release the devices to consumers, Sullivan said.

It's understandable that Microsoft wants to keep the momentum going with Windows Phone, especially now given it is starting to gain some traction. At Mobile World Congress Nokia also announced that the Windows Phone Store had hit 130,000 apps and 1 billion downloads, which isn't too shabby for the underdog OS -- although it did reach those numbers significantly slower than its rivals.

[Source: CNET]

WSJ: Apple's App Store climbs towards $25 billion in sales

The Wall Street Journal has posted an article covering the meteoric rise of the App Store, from its inception just a few years ago to its current state of almost $25 billion in annual sales. But while the App Store is growing like crazy, it's also presenting more problems for developers as well: Finding a significant crowd of customers is getting tougher and tougher, and just making a name for yourself in such a huge market isn't always easy.

And it doesn't help that customers are flying through apps extremely quickly. Mobile analytics firm Flurry tells the WSJ that while users do now spend about two hours a day on apps, the apps they use don't stick around for very long. About 63% of the apps in use today weren't used daily a year ago, and most customers focus on about eight apps at a time, according to the research. That makes sense: In such a huge market, with so many apps to try, why focus on just a few?

But it also means that the app market is going to have to mature. The WSJ cites ESPN for shuttering one of its apps while focusing on the more popular Scorecenter utility, and they also mention Shazam, an app that has found all sorts of functionality (and more revenue streams) as it has matured in the App Store. Apple's App Store marketplace has gone from zero to billions in just the past few years, and no one's got an exact road map for where it's headed next.

[Source: TUAW]

iOS 6.1 Evasi0n Jailbreak Now Installed on More Than 14M Devices

The iOS 6.1 evasi0n jailbreak that was launched exactly a month ago is already installed on more than 14 million devices, a member of the team that created the tool said recently. The jailbreak works on the iPad, iPod touch and the iPhone and works on both iOS 6 and iOS 6.1 devices, so not every one of the 14 million devices is an iPhone, but it’s stunning just how quickly iOS users wanted to use the tool.

Jailbreaking serves a number of purposes, but one of the most sought after experiences is the Cydia app store that has thousands of unique applications that aren’t available from iTunes. You can install apps that make it easier to control your settings panel with an easy swipe, for example, and other tools provide more control over the look and feel of iOS than Apple offers.

Jailbreaking also makes it possible to install cracked versions without paying for them. Perhaps this is a sign that Apple needs to provide more control over iOS devices from the get-go, however. Clearly the people have spoken.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Apple: More Than 8 Million iPads Sold to Educational Institutions

Apple announced last week that there have been more than 1 billion iTunes U downloads across 1,200 universities and 1,200 K-12 schools. The company also confirmed to TechCrunch in a separate statement that it has sold more than 8 million iPads to schools and other educational facilities around the globe. According to AllThingsD, more than half of those sales, 4.5 million units, were sold to schools in the United States.

We already knew schools were purchasing iPads, a district purchased 26,000 back in June, but we’re surprised by the sheer number of schools that are now employing iPads and iTunes U, likely in replacement of outdated textbooks, to students as a learning tool.

The U.S. government has helped fund some school districts by providing cash to make sure that schools are currently using the best technology available to help students learn.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

YouTube for iOS Updates Adds Send to TV Functionality

YouTube for iOS received a small upgrade this week that essentially turns a user’s device into a controller. Basically, users can now pick which video to watch from within the YouTube appand it’ll start playing through either a Smart TV, Xbox or PS3.

It’s almost like AirPlay; to see how it works, YouTube has a page setup that you can interact with. When you start playing a YouTube video on your device, a small TV icon will appear. Tap on that, and it’ll beam to your TV and resume playing there. From your device you can do things like play or pause, rewind or fast-forward, choose a different video and toggle between your phone and TV.

Additionally, other users can join in with their iOS device to create a playlist of Kid President videos to watch.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Facebook Will Show Off a Redesigned News Feed on March 7

Facebook’s constantly evolving face will get yet another overhaul at an event scheduled for March 7. One of the biggest complaints users have with Facebook is the cluttered and painful to look at News Feed—it’s an absolute mess, and has been that way for awhile now. Zuck and friends obviously feel the same way.

First Timeline, then Graph Search, now this. What kind of redesign are we expecting? We’ll find out next week.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

BlackBerry Issues Update for BlackBerry 10 with Battery Life, Camera Improvements

BlackBerry announced on Friday that it published its first update for the company’s newBlackBerry 10 operating system.

Build 10.0.10.85, a 150MB download, includes several enhancements, including improved performance for third-party applications, a fix for Gmail calendars, improved call-log tracking in BlackBerry Hub, camera enhancements for low-light shooting, performance enhancements within the browser for handling video and improved battery life.

BlackBerry Z10 owners can apply the update by navigating to settings > software updates> check for updates.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Amazon UK pulls misogynist t-shirts following outrage

Amazon UK has stopped selling a range of t-shirts that promote rape and violence towards women, after receiving a barrage of complaints.

The t-shirts, from Massachusetts-based company Solid Gold Bomb, feature slogans based on the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster from World War II. Examples include "Keep Calm and Hit Her" and "Keep Calm and Rape a Lot". Unsurprisingly, Amazon was inundated with complaints, and has removed the offending items, though it continues to sell other garments from Solid Gold Bomb, the Guardian reports.

An Amazon UK spokesperson told Sky News: "I can confirm that those items are not available for sale." 

Solid Gold Bomb was flooded with complaints and death threats, leading it to delete its Twitter account and Facebook page. It issued an apology, blaming the offensive slogans on "a computer error".

Apparently to make its t-shirts, the company relies on "computer-based dictionaries and online educational resources i.e. verb lists". These generate word lists "using simple scripting methods". In other words, it used software to randomly jumble words together, then printed the resulting slogans. Because it sells a big range of t-shirts, some offensive terms slipped through the net, Solid Gold Bomb claims.

Sound like a lot of nonsense? Well amazingly it could actually be how the company operates, with some of the slogans on its t-shirts ("Keep Calm and Skim Me", "Keep Calm and Bomb Not") making no sense whatsoever. Either that or the people producing them are illiterate, which could also be true.

Even if we give Solid Gold Bomb the benefit of the doubt, and assume it just didn't check which slogans the computer had thrown out -- which I'm doubtful about -- it's still phenomenally irresponsible.

[Source: CNET]