Seventh graders at Tokyo's Joshi Gakuen high school are now learning English from their Nintendo DS portable gaming consoles as a part of their English curriculum. — Switched
Starting today, it is illegal for California drivers under the age of 18 to use their phone while driving, while drivers over 18 are required to use a hands-free device. —Valleywag
An Internet harassment bill has been passed in Missouri after a 13-year-old committed suicide after being harassed on MySpace. — USA Today
If you're tired of my spendthrift tastes in expensive laptop bags (hey, I don't choose them, they choose me) then I have a nice little treat for you. Billabong's Carry On laptop tote is fun, floral — and under $40!
(We are in a recession, after all.)
I like that Billabong markets this tote as being for travel, as it would be great strolling through the airport with it, but I'd travel right to work with it, too.
And hey, bargain hunting still qualifies as retail therapy!
This tip actually comes courtesy of Netflix, after they were beginning to kill me by sending unplayable disc after unplayable disc. The first offender, (a How I Met Your Mother DVD, if you must know), refused to play in my DVD player, so I pulled out all my tricks to clean it (except for the ol' toothpaste trick, which I was tempted to try, but since I didn't own the disc, I had reservations), to no avail, so I reported it unplayable, and Netflix sent another copy of the DVD.
Would you believe it, the next HIMYM disc they sent would also not play! By then I was angry and cursing the Netflix gods as I signed in to my profile to tell them yes, you sent me another crappy DVD that I can't play. But instead of them telling me OK, they'd send a new one out (as they had the previous time) it was as if the website sighed loudly at me; the next message I got was something along the lines of "Have you tried Windexing it?" Defeated, I admitted I hadn't, so I tried it.
Starting today, putting that cell phone to your ear while you're on the road will earn you a ticket if you're in California. Our state is joining NYC in making it illegal to talk on a cell phone unless you're using a hands-free device while driving. Savvy geeks like us may already own devices (I have an earpiece even though I'm not a driver), but some people will surely be popping into the store to grab a new accessory.
Whether you're planning on buying something or already have a device, what's your hands-free gadget of choice? Are you an earpiece sporter, do you have a Bluetooth speaker, or will you choose to use a corded earpiece (ala the iPhone's earbuds)?
Oh my gosh, I absolutely love Says-It! When I first came across this rad site, I had no idea that you could choose from a variety of objects, signs, seals and badges to create hilarious graphics for! Says-It is just as addictive as MagMyPic because the options are endless with what you can design. Here I selected a lovely VHS tape to have some fun with and there's even an old school cassette tape to customize — fun fun! Just enter some text in the lines provided, choose colors and font, and click the "Go" button. A picture of a tape will be generated for you, which you can then email to friends or put them on your own blog or social networking site!
Making online dinner reservations is a breeze thanks to OpenTable, a site that allows you to pick the time and date of your dinner reservation without having to deal with the traditional method of calling a restaurant and being put on hold.
Yesterday, Open Table launched OpenTable Mobile, a cell phone friendly site that gives you the freedom of booking tables while on the go. Perfect for those evenings when you are out and about and decide you need a reservation stat, just get on your phone and book it instantly.
To access OpenTable on your web-enabled phone, type in mobile.opentable.com into your browser.
When I started rounding up my must haves for this month, I thought, wait a minute, everything is black and white — with the exception of the irresistible navy Knomo laptop bag. As much as I wanted to include some colorful summery selections, we'll leave those for previous months, I have to say, these products are still sizzlin' hot! With the release of the iPhone 3G on the 11th, July is certainly going to be a big gadget month for geeks! To see all my July must haves, click "start slideshow" below!
Marks and Spencer
Missoni
Fendi