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Best Times Couples Should Not Use Their Gadgets

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The digital age has made communication faster and readily available round the clock via the mobile devices. People around the world can now connect instantly and even see each other in real time.

But while mobile technology has its advantages particularly in terms of communication, it also has disadvantages. In the case of married couples, for instance, the constant use of smartphones, tablets and laptops even while in the house can strain their relationship. In worse cases, this can even lead to divorce, according to a divorce lawyer from Sevens Legal. A recent study published in the Psychology of Popular Media Culture journal found that technology and screens disconnect people from their partners.

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As people could not afford to live without their mobile gadgets these days, their relationships also suffer. Some are so attached to their smartphones that they could not help but check it from time to time even when they’re eating dinner or watching TV with their families at home. A study by Mobile Mindset has confirmed this saying that nearly 60 percent of people admit that they don’t go an hour without checking their phone and they do this while lying in bed before they sleep, after waking up and even in the middle of the night. This was referred to by the researchers as “technoference” or the interference of technology in a relationship. [Read more…]

5 Tips to Extend AA Battery Life

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AA batteries are among the most commonly used batteries in any household. To say that there is a need to find ways to extend their battery life is not an exaggeration. Considerable household savings can be realized when people make it a point to observe practices that will extend battery life. Also, the more we are able to reuse batteries, the better it is for the environment. [Read more…]

6 Reasons People Love to Buy Gadgets

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You see them all the time, right? Top ten gadgets of the holiday shopping season, or five must-have gadgets that are coming next year? The gadget-related titles and content are all over the internet, and that must mean that people are buying them in droves. But why?

That’s a great question. Here are six reasons people love to buy gadgets for themselves and others. [Read more…]

Offerpal Unveils GamePoints.com, Enters the Virtual Currency Bout vs. Facebook

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While Facebook is busy preparing its own virtual currency, Facebook Credits, Offerpal Media went ahead and rolled out its own virtual currency system complete with its own website – Gamepoints.com.

Basically, what Gamepoints lets you do is to  accumulate Gamepoints credit as much as you want to. You can then exchange these gamepoints for  virtual currency which you can spend on Facebook games.

To earn game points, you can do the following  activities:

  • Watch a short video
  • Buy music MP3s from iTunes or tickets to popular movies in theaters today
  • Shop online at your favorite stores, including great deals with discount coupons
  • Trade-in used electronics or unused gift cards
  • Complete a survey
  • Subscribe to magazines

After earning enough game points, you can then use them on Facebook games as virtual currency  on various social networking sites such as – FarmVille, Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars, Cafe Worl and more.

If you don’t have the time to do the ways by which you can earn game points, Gamepoints.com also lets you directly buy those game points so that you can use them immediately on your favorite social networking site which support virtual currencies.

The list of social games where you can use GamePoints include Zynga’s FarmVille, YoVille, Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars, Café World, PetVille, FishVille, Vampire Wars and others; Playdom’s Mobsters, Sorority Life, Social City, Tiki Resort and others; Digital Chocolate’s MMA Pro Fighter; HitGrab’s Mousehunt; TheBroth’s Barn Buddy; Tall Tree Game’s Fish World; K-Factor Media’s Castle Age; Tree Room’s My Town; Apps-O-Rama’s Car Madness; Offbeat Creations’ Be a Tycoon; BitRhymes’ The Warlords; Five Minutes’ Happy Farm; and many others.

Barnes and Noble Gives Nook More Features, and Games!

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Whether we like it or not, we have to give Apple some credit for releasing its magical iPad tablet. Despite its shortcomings and minor flaws the iPad has managed to stir up the otherwise sleeping tablet computer industry and the e-reader market. Several brands are now in a rush to come up with something better than than the iPad.

For Barnes and Noble it’s much easier to do this because Nook is already out even before the iPad hit the market. So, what B&N can do right now is update Nook’s features and make it a better e-reader than the iPad. And it is doing this right now as it announces some new features for Nook such as Read In Store and the addition of some games that Nook owners can play on their device. These were made possible via a software update to v1.3.

The beta Read in Store feature allows Nook owners you to read ebooks while your inside a Barnes & Noble store. You Nook will automatically connect to the Nook online bookstore and let you read titles from the B&N online bookstore even if the books are physically out of stock. While inside the store, you can read ebooks up an hour per day. B&N also plans to make some current edition newspapers and magazines available for in-store reading soon.

“Our digital customers will feel at home in our stores with Read In Store, which puts a digital spin on the popular Barnes & Noble bookstore experience that millions of our customers enjoy each day. At no cost, NOOK customers can browse through our robust collection of digital content while enjoying their favorite beverage in our café,” said Tony Astarita, Vice President, Digital Products, Barnes & Noble.com.

In addition to these, Barnes & Noble has also included new games and other entertainment features to Nook including Chess and Soduku.

While the Nook v1.3 software update includes the following new features and enhancements:

  • improved page turn speed, enhanced color touch screen navigation, faster access to previously opened eBooks  and more
  • high-speed connectivity to more hotspots
  • built-in web browser
  • updated homescreen

Nook v1.3 is available to download from www.nook.com/update or you may want to wait for automatic update in the coming weeks.