In case you were wondering, Internet, NO you can NOT charge your iPhone (or any other device, for that matter) using a microwave.
Recently the lovely folks down at 4Chan decided to play a not-so-humourous prank on internet and social media users by creating a fake ad that promotes the new iOS8 technology feature, the "wave." Using fake videos and advertisements designed to mimic the clean look of Apple's marketing go-to, the lovely internet trolls left a pile of angry iPhone owners in their wake. While most of us rolled our eyes at this make-believe so-called technology, a few of the more gullible (see: non-technical) individuals immediately plopped their iPhones into their microwaves and watched as, instead of charging the phone like the ad states, their brand-spanking-new devices were fried (along with their dignity, I'd imagine.)
While some twitter users were sending out tweets including the now-infamous fake ad...
... others were tweeting about their less-than-stellar results.
It seems like lately more and more of these fake-yet-somewhat-convincing hoaxes are popping up, duping perfectly sane people into doing incredibly insane things. Here's a few tricks to TRIPLE-check that something is real before you start popping your devices into your closest microwave:
1. Go straight to the source! - Before you share, before you post, before you pop your brand-new iPhone into your freezer, hit up the company's website to see if you can find any trace of the information that's being shared around. If Apple had come up with the wave technology, don't you think that would've been plastered all over their website? Discussed at the keynote, perhaps?
2. SNOPES or bust! - Your best resource for sniffing out a fake story, technology hoax or whatever is to bookmark Snopes.com and check it... often. While sites like 4chan may be trying to ruin the internet for everyone, sites like Snopes are doing their best to keep us all informed about what is, and more importantly isn't true when it comes to internet fads.
3. Stop, Drop and Troll! - If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Whether it's coming to you by email, through your Facebook feed or on your Twitter account, unfortunately things that seem totally legit can be an underhanded attempt at a troll. If you're really unsure as to whether or not what you're reading is valid, take a lifeline and ask a friend. Once you DO find out something isn't real, do your buddies a favour and let them know, too! You might be saving them from sticking their shiny new device in a kitchen appliance, after all.
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Zarrin Tasnim, 15, Toronto. Sandra Heppell-Williams, 13, Montreal. Skylar Payment, 16, Winnipeg. Braydon Gibson, 17, Saskatoon.
These are but four names of tens of thousands of children who have been reported missing in Canada in the last few months alone. In 2013, there were 41,035 reports of missing children in Canada (as reported by the RCMP.) It's something we never want to think about as parents, but the reality is that sometimes, more often than any of us would like to imagine, kids dissappear. While we all can do our part to share this information across Facebook and the country, at the end of the day we all wish there was a way to bring these kids home and prevent future children from ever being abducted, running away or worse.
Toronto-based company Security Blanket is trying to do just that! Security Blanket is the world's first crowd-sourced "Network of Smart Devices" dedicated to finding missing people in emergency situations. Made up of two parts: an app and a device, Security Blanket hopes to help locate children that go missing or could be in serious danger. Not only can you locate your child's device using the app, but thanks to the miracle that is crowd-sourcing, the more people who have the app on their devices, the stronger the signal and the faster not-so-nearby devices can be found. Even people who don't have children, or who don't need the security device can download the app to help locate missing children in their area. You can learn more about how Security Blanket works here.
Currently part of a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign, Security Blanket hopes to raise $215,000 (or more) to help manufacture and market this amazing technology to ensure its success. As a parent, I know that when it comes to the safety of my children I want to do everything that I can (within reason) to keep them safe, I'm certain that a revolutionary device (and app) like Security Blanket will be making its way to our home as soon as possible! Security Blanket will only be funded if the full amount of $215K is pledged by October 16th, so be sure to pledge before then if you believe in the project.
What do you think about an app to help locate not only your own children, but potentially help locate other missing children in your area? Would you use it? Will you download the app? Are you willing to pledge? Let's talk about it in the comments below!
You know how sometimes you just want to get away from it all? Maybe you close your curtains and turn off your phone for a few hours to decompress, or maybe, like this 25-year-old artist from Amsterdam, you convince your friends and family you've gone on vacation for two months when really you're just hiding out at home.
If you're any good at Photoshop this could be a viable option, since Zilla van den Born managed to "punk" her friends and family for several weeks. By simply taking photos at home and manipulating them in photoshop with travel photos, she was able to convince her loved ones that she was vacationing in Asia when she was, in fact, back home at her apartment the whole time! When she did leave the house, she did so in disguise so nobody would recognize her. Once she "returned," she revealed her secret and filmed the reactions from her friends and family.
While I may be a graphic artist, I had never thought about photo-manipulating myself into different places to make it seem like I was cooler than I am. Come to think of it... maybe I should start!
On a completely separate and unrelated topic, have I showed you my recent vacation photos?
Here's me on my last trip to New York City. It's so beautiful there.
Oh! And here's where I went Deep Sea Diving with a friend in Australia.
I stopped by a market while I was in Japan. This is definitely not any sort of reproduction or photo manipulation.
This is me and Ryan Gos. WAIT! How did that get in there? Oops!
You can see who has the real photoshop skills around here, so don't worry about Zilla, she can always fall back on her modeling career! ;)
Watch this video to see how much Photoshop has skewed the reality of what a woman really looks like.
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