Month: March 2015
JIVR Bike hits Kickstarter: Will e-bikes signal the end of the commute?
We all know the feeling. You're late. You're a bit hungover. You squeeze onto a packed tube train. It smells. It's warm. You get delayed. You feel a bit travel sick. You get elbowed in the face. Ugh, sorry. We beat your heart rate is slowly creeping up as you read this. Well, we might…
Author Paulo Coelho says he encourages e-book piracy
Thanks to the internet, e-book piracy could hardly be easier, but most published authors don’t appreciate it. And who can blame them? It takes so long to write a book, find an agent, capture an editor’s interest, and finally get published, and then most writers still never earn enough to quit the day job (or…
Acer Aspire Switch 10 review: this convertible laptop offers excellent value
After briefly trying the Acer Aspire Switch 10 at Acer's Edinburgh liveblogging event, we were keen to get a closer look at this super-lightweight laptop-tablet hybrid. We suspected it'd be perfect for working on the go, so we took it to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to really put it to the test. Here's our Acer Aspire…
Gender Avenger’s new app is keeping track of all-male panels at SXSW (and elsewhere)
The tech/music/film/everything conference South by Southwest (or as we have to abbreviate it by law, SXSW) is taking place in Austin, Texas at the moment and unlike the BBC’s comedy shows, all-male panels are still allowed. In fact, if past years are anything to go by, they’re common. But pro-equality community Gender Avenger wants to…
Supercard lets you shop abroad without the fees
Foreign currency exchange Travelex has launched a new product, the Supercard, which should make shopping abroad a bit easier. You might not be going on holiday just yet (if you are, please assume I’m jealous) but it’s not too soon to start planning. One of the most frustrating things about spending money abroad is that…
Could you live with a wardrobe of only 33 things? Project 333 says you should
Stressed, guilty and late for everything? A capsule wardrobe could be just the tonic... How long did it take you to get dressed this morning? Five minutes? 10? Half an hour of frantic rummaging, changing and screaming that ended with you sweaty, rumpled and back in the first outfit you started with? If you're the latter, then you might…
Volvorii Timeless is the smart shoe that changes with your clothes (or mood)
A new smart shoe called Volvorii Timeless can be customised via app so that you never need to clash (or buy another pair of shoes you only wear a couple of times) ever again. They're not a reality quite yet – Chip Chick spotted them on Indiegogo, so the makers are still trying to raise…
We tried I Am Bread – a game about becoming toast – and it was awesome
The premise of I Am Bread - a PC game by the makers of the stratospherically popular Surgeon Simulator - might be our favourite ever. You play a piece of bread whose sole ambition in life is to become toast by any means possible. You can use a toaster, of course, but there are endless more creative (and funny)…
Recruiter sends jaw-droppingly sexist email to female engineer – then claims it was a stunt
Sexist harassment of women on the internet - especially women in tech - is far from new. But usually, the trolls have the sense to use a fake name and a throwaway email address so they won't get caught. Not so in the case of Justin D'Agostino, a tech recruiter based in San Francisco, who…
Momofuku’s founder says the internet is bad for food
Momofuku’s founder David Chang claims the internet has ruined food. ‘Everything tastes the same,’ he told an audience at SXSW, ‘and it’s the internet’s fault.’ The internet’s clearly done a lot of things it should be ashamed of, from hosting leaked celebrity selfies to those cheesy ‘inspirational’ quotes some people fill their Facebook with. But…
