Your hub for Blerd news, mobilized by AT&T.
We’ve just taken Hyundai’s new smartwatch app for a spin. It lets you start your engine, lock your doors, and even find your car, right from your wrist.
Source: USA Today
Fancred
Fancred just might be the most important app for some fans. Before, during and after the game, social media will be jam-packed with trash talking, cheering, embarrassing GIFs and hilarious memes — we all know how quickly Black Twitter works with these things. If you’re on the losing end of the game, you might not appreciate all the jokes until you have some time to give yourself a pep talk. Fancred will allow you to log online and chat it up with other fans who were rooting for your team while avoiding all the people who have come away feeling victorious. Fancred will also pull in photos, news stories and other digital content about your team and keep you safely tucked away from anymore bad news.
Super Bowl XLIX Digital Game Program
This is the perfect app for diehard football fans and football newcomers alike. It essentially helps boost the Super Bowl Sunday experience by giving users access to the official game program, recaps of the current season, exclusive video clips and more. So for the avid watcher, it’s a nice trip down memory lane to remember all the moments that led up to the Patriots vs. Seahawks showdown. For those who didn’t really keep up with the season, it’s a great way to get some quickie football knowledge before and during the game.
A new business incubator for female entrepreneurs will be housed in Atlanta’s historic Flatiron building, with hopes of giving a serious boost to economic growth within the city.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed plans to announce more details about the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative at an upcoming press conference.
Nearly every corner in downtown Atlanta reveals a new construction site. While the city’s face-lift is a nightmare when it comes to traffic, the potential of the major transformation gives new promise to emerging entrepreneurs in the city.
The Flatiron building is nestled near Georgia State University buildings, local dining hot spots and other popular office buildings in the city.
With a popular coffee shop at its base and access to local universities that are giving birth to entrepreneurial hopefuls, it’s a prime location for such an initiative hoping to cater to budding entrepreneurs.
Atlanta officials made it clear that they are hoping to stimulate the growth of small businesses and startups in the community and give the entire downtown area a major overhaul.
The 118-year-old Flatiron building is already expected to receive a major renovation, and it’s likely that moving the WEI into the building will help move that process along.
According to Reed, the initiative is a great way to give women-owned businesses the same jolt that tech startups have received recently.
“This is a space I thought needed some energy … women entrepreneurs are still having challenges with venture capital and seed investment,” Reed said, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Reed also pointed out that women entrepreneurs need access to safer office spaces.
With the building being in the center of a highly populated area full of students, campus patrols and nearby businesses, the Flatiron building would certainly be a safe office location.
A group of 15 women entrepreneurs will be selected to have their companies housed in the building free of charge.
That means they will receive free access to top-notch resources that could truly take their startups to the next level.
The center’s director, Theia Washington Smith, explained the initiative is the “direct result of a partnership between the city of Atlanta and Invest Atlanta” although some budget and operational expenses are “continuing to be developed.”
While WEI is one of the first incubators to be housed in the building, the entire space is expected to become an entrepreneurial hub soon.
Arun Nijhawan, managing principal for Lucror Resources, bought the Flatiron last year and planned to transform the building into a “collaborative place for Atlanta’s makers, thinkers and doers.”
Claudia Mitchell
In 2006, Mitchell became the first woman to be given a bionic arm after a horrific motorcycle accident. The limb is connected to her nervous system, and it allows her to control the arm with her mind.
Nigel Ackland
After losing part of his arm in a work-related accident, Ackland got a cybernetic upgrade. His new arm is reminiscent of Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget.
Some of them couldn’t fly. They didn’t wear colorful costumes, and they didn’t have superpowers. But they were superheroes all the same. Others were as real as Spider-Man. Throughout the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, comic books appeared featuring real or fictional African-Americans.
The real-life Black heroes were brilliant scientists or former enslaved people who risked their lives for the freedom of their people. Fictional Black heroes defeated villains ordinary humans could not.
In 1947, the first issue of Negro Heroes featured George Washington Carver, Matthew Henson, Harriet Tubman and Joe Louis. The second issue featured Booker T. Washington, Sadie Alexander, Jackie Robinson and many other real-life Black heroes.
Nonfiction African-American comic books continued into 1969 when the Gilberton Co. produced Negro Americans. Like Negro Heroes, the Negro Americans comic book covered the lives of African-American great achievers. Many illustrations in the nonfiction comic books appear to have been taken from photographs, and the plain yellow, brown or blue colors give the stories a real and not fantasy look.
In the 1940s, All-Negro Comics stood out as being owned, produced and written by Blacks. Unlike Negro Heroes and Negro Americans, however, All-Negro Comics featured fictional African-Americans. Ace Harlem is one character in All-Negro Comics. Although Harlem is a tall, Hollywood-handsome Black detective, the bad guys might be called stereotypes. Other characters in All-Negro Comics were created for laughs but may also have displayed an image many Blacks did not care to see.
Probably the best character to come out of All-Negro Comics is college-educated Lion Man, who is an agent for the United Nations. Lion Man’s mission takes him to Africa where he meets his sidekick — an orphan named Bubba. Today, you’ll find a character named Lion Man appearing in various comic books including Batman. This is likely because Lion Man carries the title of Public Domain Superhero. One of the most interesting versions of Lion Man is the comic book tutorial by Eric Neal that teaches life lessons to children.
The life story of Orrin Cromwell Evans, creator of All–Negro Comics, involves Nazi-sympathizer Charles Lindbergh, racism and Evans’ determination. Tom Christopher states that Evans “went out of his way to meet Morrie Turner, the first syndicated black cartoonist. He was always impressed with the way a well-executed cartoon could simplify and clarify complex issues.”
Nonfiction comic books related the lives of outstanding African-Americans in an easy to understand format. The fictional African-Americans in comic books produced Black heroes with a positive image. Whether fiction or nonfiction, the African-American characters in early comic books sent the message to readers that he or she could also achieve through determination.
Source: Demetrius Sherman at Black Girl Nerds
It seems like 2015 is looking a lot like the year of the smart home, and CES is ground zero. But building a good smart home ecosystem needs to be about solving genuine human problems and not just filling a house with toys. Bloomberg’s Stephen Pulvirent rounds up the best smart home products at CES that you actually should buy.
Source: Bloomberg Business
In the second issue of Fight Like a Girl by David Pickney and Soo Lee, we find Amarosa continuing on to her second trial. She’s a witty, spunky, won’t-take-no-for-an-answer Black girl heroine. Her brother is sick, and she is going through a series of trials set forth by a rather mysterious council of gods in order to save him.
At the beginning of this issue, Amarosa is talking with Kaiden (who I’m assuming is her boyfriend). Although he was previously very supportive of her, he’s doubting her ability, the worth of her actions if something were to happen to her, and even questioning if she would do the same for him as she is for her brother. Needless to say, that struck a nerve. She leaves him standing there, which I’m assuming is the end of the hint of romance.
This trial finds her in a future wasteland. Expecting zombies, the sprite laughs and tells her how ridiculous that is. Apologies for the spoiler, but as a zombie enthusiast, I was right there with Amarosa. I won’t tell you what challenge was behind door number two, besides crushing your hopes for zombies, but it’s still pretty killer.
I love Lee’s use of the vivid pink for the backdrop of this issue. It contrasts very nicely with the browns, grays and blacks of the barren wasteland and really makes Amarosa pop. The brilliant sky, monochromatic buildings, and rich colors of Amarosa’s clothing and glasses each creates a distinct separation that makes the world seem to come to life and leap off the page at you.
Pinckney’s use of dialogue to establish a wonderful banter between Amarosa and the sprite are definitely a large (and humorous) chunk of this comic. Their interactions in this issue are reminiscent of Katniss Everdeen’s interactions with Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games – the somber warrior fighting her battles while a chirpy, prying interviewer tries to drag out and sugarcoat her life story. The sprite informs Amarosa that people from all the “multi-realms of the heavens” are watching and asks about her brother, but I get the sense that there is some actual concern and a mutual respect. This issue focuses a little more on her inner dialogue and we get to see more of what is going on inside the head of our spunky heroine.
Pickney and Lee continue to deliver in a comic full of adventure and a heroine full of sass. Though it seems we’re no closer to seeing her brother, and the gods council was mysteriously absent this round, Fight Like a Girl keeps the reader turning to see what Amarosa will do next!
Source: Diondra Powers at Black Girl Nerds
Apple CEO Tim Cook finally released information that many people have been waiting for — when can consumers get their hands on an Apple Watch?
Cook recently announced during a quarterly earnings call with investors that the watch will be released this April, marking the first major new product release by Apple since it debuted the iPad back in 2010.
Apple teased tech lovers with their first look at the watch in September and promised it would be the company’s “most personal device ever.”
With buzz around the watch already stirring, Apple certainly has to deliver on its promises, but that’s something Cook isn’t worried about.
Cook is confident about the smartwatch’s development as well as the value app makers are already adding to the device.
“We’re making great progress in the development of it,” Cook said, according to The Verge.
He then added that the response from developers and app makers has been quite impressive.
“We’re seeing some incredible innovation,” he said.
Cook also had to defend the company against some anxious consumers who felt like April wasn’t quite early enough.
Some people claimed that the CEO’s decision to refer to April as an “early” part of 2015 was misleading.
According to the tech mogul’s calendar, however, “early” is exactly where April would fall.
He explained that Apple separates the year into three, fourth-month periods. The first period would be considered early, the next represents the middle and the last would be described as late.
Based on those terms, April would indeed be considered early 2015.
While some users wish the watches were coming out earlier, other consumers are still saving up for the device. The smartwatch will come with a pretty hefty price tag, starting at $349.
Three versions of the smartwatch will be available, with the most expensive option being the “ultra-premium Apple Watch Edition.”
This version of the watch has the potential to reach up to $1,000, with some people estimating a price even higher than that.
Of course, these are just speculations as Apple has not officially released any new pricing information or other news about what consumers should expect from the new product.
EyeLock Myris
The myris is a USB-enabled iris authentication device that can connect to anything with a USB port. Users can access their personal information without the use of passwords and user names. One look is all it takes to verify your identity.
Lima Data Storage (2 TB)
The Lima Data Storage device has reinvented the way your devices store data. You can install it at home, on your smartphone, computer and tablet, and the device will display the same files, wherever you are, regardless of the device size.
Microsoft’s new holographic headset can be used to play Minecraft, make video calls, do your work, and more.
Source: IGN