After looking at nothing but rendered images for the past few years,? seeing real footage of Apple’s new spaceship of a headquarters is a little bit surreal. Geek Choice got a peek at the building’s footprint last summer, but a new clip shot with a drone in 4K really shows the building taking shape. And WOW is this thing massive!
The video comes from a YouTube user flying a Tarot 680Pro Hex with a GoPro Hero 4 Black over Cupertino. You can not only make out the massive spaceship shape of the building but also see the floors being laid. The scale of the whole project makes the giant, heavy-lifting cranes feel like my son’s toys. The scale is further demonstrated by the very little homes surrounding the new Apple HQ.
Of course, it will still take some time before we see the finished Norman Foster design completed in all of its green-friendly glory. Progress on the construction of the complex makes the impossibly futuristic project feel real in the meantime. Real big. The only question that I have, is how can I get a job there? This structure and environment is rumored to be like working for Google, except with way better toys! I can’t wait to see this structure finished and head out to California to check it out first hand, stay tuned for updates as they come out!
The safest thing you could possibly do on New Year?s Eve is not drink, not go out, not do anything.?You?re probably going to go out, anyway.?You?re probably going to go to some party and you?re probably going to drink. A lot. You?ll dance terribly. You?ll tell someone that you love them. This person is someone you do not love.
New Year?s Day is also the worst day for drunk driving accidents. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Over half of all fatal accidents on New Year?s Day happen in the early morning hours and with drivers?with a blood alcohol level over .08 percent.
We hope you don?t make an ass of yourself and we hope you don?t try to drive while drunk. But just in case you do have a bit too much to drink, here are some?tech tools to help you save yourself from your drunk self this New Year?s Eve:
Uber surge pricing might make you feel like you?re forking over what?s left of your rent money on New Year?s but it?s worth taking that or a cab home if you are too drunk to drive. Breathometer helps you know definitively if you are too?inebriated to drive by blowing into either the wireless or original breathalyzer device and then testing your BAC level. For $50-$100 plus a free app, it?s cheaper than most breathalyzers out there.
Hint: if you are having trouble navigating through the testing process, you are too drunk. Seriously, test yourself before you even think of getting behind the wheel.
Drunk texting is one of the more incriminating things you can do while intoxicated. Someone else has the evidence of your embarrassing moment.?You might find yourself drinking more than you planned and then whipping out your smartphone in the corner of the room at a New Year?s Eve party and?texting someone?incoherently.
There are several apps that attempt to prevent you from texting while drunk. Drunk Mode hides certain people from your contacts list for up to 12 hours when you tell it you?re about to go drinking. It also helps you locate your drunk friends with the ?Find My Drunk? feature. And just in case you can?t remember a thing, the ?Breadcrumbs? feature helps you retrace your steps, your delirious, embarrassing steps from last night.
Remember when we told you not to drive drunk? Well, this device will make sure you don?t. It?s?a?member of?ignition interlock technology and it is normally geared toward those who have a problem with drunk driving. A?third of all drivers arrested or convicted of driving while intoxicated?are?those with a previous record, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. California State Senator Jerry Hill has a proposal in the works to require all convicted felons residing in the state to have one of these devices in their car.
The device allows the driver to turn on the ignition in their car only if they blow a BAC below the legally required limit to drive. It?s also pretty pricey.?These devices run anywhere from $500-$1600 and are usually installed by a car dealership.
You drank too much, you know you shouldn?t be driving?but you?don?t want to leave your car where it?s parked for whatever reason. Do not drive! For about $40 + $2.65/mile,?StearClear will hire someone?to drive your car for you. It?s possibly more expensive than a cab (on any night besides New Year?s) but cheaper than getting your car towed. It promises not to ?hyper inflate or invoke surge pricing on weekends or peak travel times so this may be a good alternative to Uber.
This is a similar service to StearClear but costs about $35/hour + $2.40/mile. It?s made for corporate executives but can be used as an alternative to get?you or your drunk friend?s car?home safely, too.
If you do happen to get behind the wheel after drinking and you happen to live in L.A. there?s an app that will alert you to DUI checkpoints. Mr. Checkpoint says it helps prevent drunk driving and wrongful arrests. The founder tells us , ?I personally have been wrongfully arrested for DUI and sued the city.??To?be clear, this app?alerts you to the checkpoint. Drunks can use it to avoid getting arrested,?spending the night in jail (or longer) and handing over thousands in fines. How it prevents drunk driving is a mystery.
One day we will have self-driving cars and possibly built-in?alcohol detection systems in all our technology. For now we have apps and devices that require you to take responsibility for your actions on your own, before things get out of hand. But people keep on being people and not heeding the warning signs or taking measures to prevent themselves from acting like idiots. Consider this post a PSA and stay safe out there.
All of us Geeks in the tech community HATE Internet Explorer with a passion. Hell, I’ll download Safari on my PC before I’ll use it. I’ll switch back to dial-up and use a Net-Zero browser before you see IE on a computer that I own. Apparently Microsoft has made it’s own New Year’s Resolution, to rid the world of IE! In comes Spartan,? an entirely new, light-weight browser that should be able to compete better with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Sticking with their obsession with the Xbox phenomenon “Halo” to theme all of it’s new products (“Cortana” is their version of “Siri”), more than likely to appeal to the younger audience.
Spartan will make it’s grand entrance in 2015 coupled with Microsoft Windows 10, and although they aren’t “replacing” IE, lets be honest, Internet Explorer 11, should be the last iteration of that browser. Internet Explorer has been losing market share among computer browsers for years (it?s at about 58 percent today, according to NetMarketshare.com, compared to more than 90 percent 10 years ago), and browsers from Apple and Google dominate the mobile market.
Spartan should support extensions, and will more than likely be using an updated version of the Trident rendering engine, which means it should be able to go blow for blow with Chrome and Firefox. On January 21st, Microsoft plans to show some of the new features of Windows 10 and in all likelihood, we should get a peak at Spartan. Unless the software isn’t ready yet, in which case they don’t need Spartan’s first appearance to be riddled with a bug, or a crash, which would be fatal to the project.
Windows 10 is designed to run on many different devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones. Microsoft?s goal is for the user to be able to have a familiar experience no matter what type of devices they?re using, and to that end, if ?Spartan? is indeed under development, we?re likely to see both desktop and mobile versions in the end. Internet Explorer 11 is already available for Windows computers, tablets, and phones, so the two browsers will probably coexist for the foreseeable future.
Internet Explorer made its debut in 1995 as part of the Windows 95 operating system. Microsoft hasn?t built an entirely new browser since then ? all its focus in that area has been on keeping Internet Explorer up to date ? so a made-from-scratch ?Spartan? would be a big deal for the company and for customers.
And maybe Microsoft wont have to deal with these memes anymore..
It?s no secret there are many more cases of diagnosed autism in children today. These children need much more attention in order to overcome the challenges that they face with this disorder, and now the old saying ?There?s an app for that,? will allow parents to use apps in order to assist their children in a whole new way.
Brain Power, a Cambridge, MA, start up, has developed Google Glass apps to help assist autistic children with developing their social skills, and communication skills, while providing much needed feedback to their parents, teachers, or caregivers. Developed by neuroscientist Ned T Sahin, Google Glass (Empowered Brain Suite for Autism), focuses on the use of games and paly in order to teach autistic kids to interact with their parents and others. Apps helping autism is kids will not only aid children and their caregivers, but also assist and encourage autistic kids with making eye contact, and also give teachers and parents feedback on how well the children are engaging with other by utilizing social engagement monitors. This is crucial when evaluating a child?s progress.
Google Glass is an ideal app helping autistic kids, as it has a chip which enables head gestures, which then allows data to be recorded on how often the children are engaged with their parents, and how much progress they are making with looking at their parents or other caregivers. Google Glass also plans to explore language in the future, by identifying an object, then speaking it through an ear bud that the child wears.
Needless to say, using play, games, and fun activities with children has always been a valuable educational tool, and it has now become even more useful when trying to encourage children with disabilities. Way to go Google Glass! We here at Geek Choice salute you! Smartphone apps have now become a tool that can change the life of a child with disabilities, and improve how they function in life later on.
So I wanted to do something funny for you guys on Xmas and give you the 12 Days of Geek Christmas. This is an assortment of “gifts” our customers give to us throughout the year. I’m going to fill it with lovely pictures, and memes, and just overall fun things that should put a smile on your faces for the Holidays!
On the 12th Day of Geek Christmas my customer gave to me, 12 Trojan Viruses!
Please don’t trust him. Never open something when you don’t know what it is, or else they’ll getcha.
Here at Geek Choice we are the nation’s leader in Dental IT Support, and there are days where everything goes haywire, and Dentists panic, till they call us!
Another thing we have all done, whether we dropped it, kicked it, stepped on it or just closed it real hard when there was something on the keyboard, we all need laptop screen repair.
http://youtu.be/1gyzSdGjJU8
On the 4th Day of Geek Christmas my customer gave to me, 4 water damaged laptops
On the 3rd Day of Geek Christmas my customer gave to me, 3 Paper Jams
?Tis the seasons to be traveling ? We all know that traveling, whether or not it is for business or pleasure, can be stressful. The packing, the preparations at home to be sure all the loose ends are sorted out before going away, and keeping organized, are challenging when we are on the go. NOT ANYMORE!
Your smart phone or tablet has found a way for us to have the stress free travel with Apps that will make our lives a little easier on the home and on the business front while traveling. The old saying, ?There?s an App for that,? certainly rings true in today?s day and age. There are Apps for our phones and tablets that help us secure a car at our hotel, house, or apartment right from the convenience of our devices, Apps that will virtually eliminate roaming charges when we are overseas, and there are Apps that sync all of our calendars, to-do lists, and reminders. Did I mention that they are FREE? Below are some very cool Apps for the tech savvy traveler on-the-go.
Best Stress Free Travel Apps
UBER is an up and coming, and very popular App for today?s traveler. Download the free App, and you can hail a cab from the convenience of your Hotel, office, apartment, or home. Your location is saved, and UBER will quickly send the nearest car. No cash? No problem. Tip and fare are automatically charged to your debit or credit card.
Wi-Fi Finder is one useful little gem while on the road. With all of the data restrictions on most cell phone providers, one often resorts to feverishly searching for a hot spot. Not a problem if you download Wi-Fi Finder. This App finds a local hot spit worldwide.
Voxox is a must have for the business traveler. Thus App eliminates, or drastically reduces, the roaming charges one incurs while on the road overseas. All you need is a hot spot ? don?t forget Wi-Fi Finder above to help you in that department. With this, you get a free Voxox number to use worldwide, the ability to e-fax all of those important work documents, language translation and the ever so convenient voicemail transcription. How can you beat that, and it?s all FREE!
Happy stress free travel all you techies. Your phone or tablet has you covered while you are away.
