By Posted on Posted in Funny, Naming, Weird No Comments

I am sure you have been to a Starbucks somewhere on this planet and you have been asked for your name in order to get the right order when it is ready. But the funny part is when your name is a little tricky and cannot be heard or written correctly.

That is why I was lately shooting my cup every time the barista gave me a new name, some of them got it right and some of them went far away.

To be honest, every time i am asked my name, I do pronounce and articulate it well to make sure I am playing a fair game :-)

my name at starbucks

By Posted on Posted in Android, Smartphones No Comments

Fleksy Keyboard logo I was an incredibly big fan of Swiftkey, an android keyboard replacement that works quite smoothly, but like many others I always had the thumb issue on smartphones until few days ago I have discovered Fleksy which made me feel my thumbs are not big anymore on my phone.

Fleksy revolutionizes typing on smart devices through patent-pending predictive text technology that works on all device sizes. Fleksy prides itself on creating and introducing to the world smart technology that makes everyday life easier and more intelligent.

Fleksy uses the familiar QWERTY layout, coupled with the most powerful, patent pending text prediction engine. It features an autocorrect engine powerful enough to work, even when you are not looking at the screen!

With 114% larger effective typing area, use traditional buttons like the spacebar or master Fleksy’s unique gesture system to space, delete, capitalize and punctuate.

Built from the ground up to simplify typing on every smart device from Android to iOS to your tablet and your phone – even your watch!

Get it on Google Play Store and Apple App Store

Fleksy_on_Android_-_Revolutionary_Tech

By Posted on Posted in Catastrophes, Latvia, Retail, Supermarkets No Comments

maxima roof collapse in riga latvia

The death toll from the Thursday evening 21[11]2013 rush-hour roof collapse at the Maxima supermarket in Riga, Latvia’s capital had risen to at least 54, including three firefighters, police said.

A roof garden was under construction at the time of the collapse and police have launched a criminal investigation into the cause disaster.

Run by the Lithuanian-owned Maxima chain – Latvia’s number two retailer – the supermarket was built in 2011 and was named one of the country’s top three architecture projects that year.

Maxima published a statement on its website saying the company was “overwhelmed and shocked” by the disaster but that it was not yet aware of the cause and was providing “all the information at our disposal” to the authorities.

The supermarket collapse is the Baltic state’s deadliest accident since it won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the LETA news agency reported. Latvia’s previous most deadly accident was a nursing home fire that killed 26 people in 2007.

Photo Credit Demotix – more photos here

By Posted on Posted in Innovation, Products 1 Comment

smart diapers Smart diapers bring obsessing over infant health to a new level by letting you check up on your baby’s vital stats with your smartphone. The diaper has a small patch that tests urine and gives you all kinds of pee information to overreact about and bother doctors with. Oh, and it can detect early signs of infection and diabetes, so that’s good.

Of course, doctors monitor all of these things at regular checkups, but the smart diapers aim to track a baby’s health more accurately, since there’s a big difference between getting results from a doctor once in a while and getting consistent results from several diapers a day. The patch on the diaper works by changing colors in different areas due to urine content, and then an app on your smartphone uses its camera to survey the results.

There’s always the danger of false positives with the urine test patch, which could unnecessarily alarm already stressed parents, so the diapers will undergo testing at the Benioff Children’s Hospital at the University of California, San Francisco. They must also be approved by the FDA, so hopefully they’ll be reasonably accurate by the time they make it into your home.

The diapers are being developed by Pixie Scientific and funded on Indiegogo, and though they’re already extremely close to their goal, you can still support and help them with the last little bit. Donors of $25 or more get to help test the diapers in October.

Diapers? You are on notice. We don’t need you stressing parents out anymore than you already do. Please be informative and accurate about baby pee. It’s about time you started pulling your weight. While we’re at it, diaper makers, you’re also on notice. If you want to improve diapers, make them self-changing. That is all.

Via http://www.geekosystem.com/smart-diaper/

By Posted on Posted in Brands, Products No Comments

McCaféRonald McDonald decided to enter the supermarket retail game and be present on the shelves.

So starting 2014 you don’t need to visit your McDonald’s store but instead visit your neighborhood supermarket to grab your coffee and drink it at the comfort on your office or home.

Tony Vernon, CEO of Kraft Foods, partner of the coffee venture, announced “McDonald’s is arriving in your favorite big grocery store”.

But the world’s largest fast food chain is eventually extending its successful McCafé , sold for years in its restaurants across the United States.

According to the National Coffee Association, 83% of Americans are coffee drinkers, regardless of its form.

Europe is the next stop for the McCafé.

By Posted on Posted in Drive Stores, France, Retail No Comments

In France, store concepts known as “hypermarchés drive” or drive-through hypermarkets are springing up across the country.

Investment in these drive-through formats is growing primarily because “pure” grocery e-commerce sites that include home delivery have not really taken off in France. Customers are often unwilling to pay delivery costs and many do not want to block out time to wait for their goods.

Customers can either use the drive-through service spontaneously via electronic terminals at the station or order their items in advance online and pick them up at the service point. Once the order is complete and the shopper has arrived at the pick-up point, the products are delivered to the customer’s vehicle in less than five minutes. In France, there is no service charge and retailers maintain that prices are exactly the same as those found in their hypermarkets.

Drive stores in France are an interesting trend to watch, as there is no reason to believe the concept can’t take root elsewhere, as well.

Text extracted from original article

Below is a counter for Drive numbers per chain in France with the openings of new locations during 2013.

Compteur Drive Novembre France

If you live in France and would like to check a drive near your location or compare, you can visit these 2 sites (in French)

http://www.liste-drive.fr/

http://www.courses-en-drive.fr/

http://www.mes-courses-drive.fr/

By Posted on Posted in Well-Being No Comments

A post by Jeff Haden on Linkedin

cute sleeping babies

1. Step back from one thing you really care about… but have no ability to impact.
2. Stay out of other people’s business.
3. Set up automatic warning systems.
4. Be grateful for criticism.
5. Write it all down.
6. Lay off the conspiracy theories.
7. Reduce the number of judgment calls.
8. Create a cutoff time…
9. …Then create a plan for tomorrow.
10. Spend a few minutes every day getting better at something else.
11. Count your blessings.

Read full article on Linkedin

(photo credit Anne Geddes)

By Posted on Posted in Jobs, Motivational No Comments

keep-calm-because-you-re-fired
You’re Fired, Be Happy! A sentence that looks a little weird.

People are fired every day around the world, some call it “corporate downsizing”, sometimes it hits 1 person, sometimes 500 and sometimes by the thousands. George Clooney is used to do it a lot in his movie Up In The Air.

If you have seen the movie, you might not be surprised by the behavior of the fired people to the extend of committing suicide.

But if you hold your horses for a minute and take a look around you, things might look brighter.

I am not saying being fired is something you are eager to happen to you, but sometimes such hits can be an opportunity for a better start, a better job, a job you like more than the previous one.

The most important is to know what is next and what exactly you need to do to put back your life on the right track. Some people get more lost when it happens to them, some start drinking, some start fighting themselves and the people around them and start blaming every single aspect of life to be working against them and lose the focus and end up unhappy in anything they do in their life.

While the stronger behave differently, they seize the moment and take control of the game their way, move forward, get bigger and make things happen, so be that person.

And the most important is to stay focused.