Square Gives Payment Systems To Everyone

Square on Moto Droid

Run a small business? On the go, selling wares? This new service might be the best thing for you. Called Square, the newly out-of-pilot system adds a card/cash reader and payment system to your Android, iPhone, iTouch, and iPad devices.  Complete with a slew of security and financial features, Square will enable businesses and people to officially accept cash and plastic wherever they are.  Best of all, the service is free apart from the nominal fee attached to transactions.  The app – and the card reader – simply cost an account signup and verification.

I’ve already made my account and am waiting for the card reader in the mail.  If this interests you, go check it out on your device’s apps market!

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thread.sleep()

Hey everyone. A quick shoutout to a new blog some friends of mine have started, jokingly dubbed thread.sleep(). It will entail miscellaneous topics, from music to video games to life in general. They are all good writers, so expect it to be a good read. The blog is hosted on WordPress.com as of now, but will be changing to its own domain soon. I will also be contributing to the blog’s content, so watch for my name to pop up from time to time!

Hope to see you there!

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Game Gripper Review

Game Gripper Key Overlay

Hey everyone:

I received my Game Gripper for the Motorola Droid today, and reviewed it thoroughly over at TotalSmartphone.  If you own a Droid (or a Devour, Backflip, or N900 for that matter), you should definitely look into this product.  Enjoy the rest of you weekend!

Link to the article is here.

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2010 NPPL Surf City Open


Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of joining my fellow RIT Paintball teammates in our (unfortunately) annual tournament – this year we chose to compete in the NPPL Surf City Open, hosted by Huntington Beach in Los Angeles, California.  Last year we congregated with other collegiate paintball teams at the NCPA Finals in Lakeland, Florida, so we decided to switch it up and hit the west coast up for some delightful weather, amazing scenery, and of course the greatest game ever made (you’re welcome to disagree).  Read my tale and reflection (and some more photos) after the break.

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Palm Refreshes Its Ad Campaign

Palm just released a new ad on YouTube as part of a new campaign for its webOS series phones, the Pre and Pixi lines.  Rather than focus on stylized environments akin to Prius commercials, Palm looked to a more practical, enjoyable, and interesting twist found in competitors’ commercials – such as HTC and Apple.  This new series of commercials seem to play up the smooth multitasking features of the webOS software, which is one of its main selling points.  While simple (and somewhat unoriginal), the new campaign will hopefully bring the webOS phones into the mainstream.

The commercials are planned to be run during March Madness later in the week.

via PaidContent

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Chat Roulette – Video Chat Gambling

Finally an interesting use for web cams.  Chat Roulette is a new popular web trend where people connect to the site, activate a video capture device, and randomly access other users for two seconds of interaction before being “nexted.”  Mashable presented a short by Casey Neistat who took to the scientific method for some insight on the service.  The video is embedded below.  Be aware that the film contains some language, so put some headphones on if needed.

via Mashable

Chat Roullete

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Lockerz: Socialize, Poll, and Get Stuff

In my usual perusal of the internet, I discovered on Twitter a new site called Lockerz.  It markets itself as a place where users can come, connect, consume trends, and earn points (or PTZ as the site calls them) through games and responses.  These “PTZ” can be then spent on prizes the site offers.  From the Lockerz web site:

When you watch a video, play a game, or even log in, you’ll earn Pointz (or “PTZ”) Lockerz own form of currency. Turn around and redeem your PTZ for incredible merchandise, unique experiences and exclusive deals and sales.

Lockerz seems to really view itself as a private community that grows through invites rather than public registration.  Right now the site is in Beta stage and visitors can request an invite directly.

Because this site is devoted to current trends in the market and in culture, it will be interesting to follow the site’s growth and whether it stays afloat.  There are no on-page ads (which is nice as the site’s theme is minimalistic), but with the daily polls I can only assume that over time the trend data collected will be used to make money as Facebook does.  Considering the high-profile guests advertising the site from videos made at fashion shows, this network has some great potential.

To check it out for yourself hit up Lockerz here.

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Weather Widget Skins Update

Hey guys.  Sorry I haven’t posted anything on this in a while.  I have been really busy these past few weeks, with little time beyond schoolwork.  With my break coming up I should be able to sit down and hammer out some skins for you all to enjoy.  Here is a little taste of what’s to come:

Keep a sharp eye for some other designs and links for download!  I am also open to any suggestions you have for my skins.  Leave them in the comments!

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Google Buzz Gets Everyone Buzzing

Google today released a new social media service that it hopes will compete with services like Twitter.  Access is primarily from Gmail and mobile devices.  From my beginning experiences, the service seems somewhat complex.  It has the makings of Twitter – using a Google profile (who doesn’t have one of these), a user can follow and be followed by other Buzz users.  Buzzing is the equivalent to tweeting – seemingly without a character limit – and others can comment on them.  The neat aspect of Google Buzz is its integration with Google Maps.  This function is mainly for mobile users, and connects with GPS, WiFi, and cell towers to list available locations for display.  Using Google Maps as a canvas, one can literally peruse the globe and see what people are saying visually, rather than in a list.

I feel like this could definitely catch on if the UI of desktop Gmail, mobile Gmail, and maps were a little more consistent.  They are three totally different styles, and finding similar options is a little difficult.  Google also needs to fix up the public profile pages for users.  They are a quite blank.  But overall for a service that just opened its gates  it is quite good.  I highly recommend you check it out!

Head over to buzz.google.com to find out more.  If you’re on your mobile device, head to m.google.com/buzz.

Some videos by Google:

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Going Mobile

Yesterday I implemented a mobile version of this blog, so for all of you who access here on your mobile device, you will be able to read, comment, and enjoy without all that unnecessary scrolling!  Just point your browser to the same link, www.ashersimonds.com, and it will do the rest.

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