Apple announced today 2 billion apps have been downloaded since the company launched the app store. Over the past few months, users have downloaded more than 6 million apps a day, according to Brainstormtech. Some very popular iPhone apps that have helped reach that number are Facebook, Google Earth, and Pandora Radio.– All of them are free to download. ree apps are most popular, but Advertising PlatformAdMob estimates that 1 in 4 iPhone apps are paid for.  (more…)

Cupcake shops have become as ubiquitous as hot dog stands in some American cities, and have spread to Rome; Istanbul; Berlin; Seoul, South Korea; and Sydney, Australia. Now Mr.Fadi Jaber, a son of Palestinian refugees has proved that even the Arab world is not immune to such a Western frivolity. Along with such all-American favorites as carrot cake and red velvet, Mr. Jaber, 31, also caters to regional tastes, offering specialty items like Blind Date, a sticky date cupcake with cream cheese frosting, and Ramadan cupcakes in flavors like pistachio with orange-blossom frosting. Cupcakes have also bridged the most contentious divide of the Middle East. In the last year, three online cupcake stores opened in Israel, all in Tel Aviv. Maybe there is hope after all.   (more…)

For years I have been saying that some of my best thinking occurs when I am on my bike. I just assumed that it was the lack of distractions that drove some of that clarity. Looks like there could be more to it than that. Recent research supports the theory that active exercise does improve brain processes.  (more..)

This past Friday, September 18th, was Park(ing) Day 2009. Originally created by Rebar, San Francisco art and design collective, PARK(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, global event where artists, activists, and citizens independently but simultaneously temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks. Anyone can participate in PARK(ing) Day, though it is strictly a non-commercial project, intended to promote creativity, civic engagement, critical thinking, unscripted social interactions, generosity and play.    (more…)

Ever wondered what it would be like to have Lance Armstrong pedal your bike for you? Well now you can find out, sort of. About 15 companies are now offering bicycles with an electric power option — as opposed to a purely engine-powered moped — for around $1,000 to $4,000 — and they are catching on with some green-thinking commuters. The latest electric bikes from Giant, EcoBike, Currie Technologies and Ultra Motor, among others, can deliver around 500 watts of power at the flick of a wrist or a turn of the pedals. That is roughly what Armstrong could generate over shorter races in his prime. The result is that you zip up hills or hustle along the street, silently passing all, but the most competitive two- wheelers.  (more…)

About two weeks after 9/11, I was in NYC with my husband and small children. The missing person flyers were plastered on every open space. The streets were so quiet except for the sounds of sirens. We walked through our beloved city like strangers — disoriented by the changes both physical and emotional. Eight years later, I rush down the streets yapping on my cell phone, cursing the slow tourists under my breath, watching my nine year old stick her hand out and shake her head no to the man passing out flyers. We are downtown about to show a visiting friend the WTC site. We walk quietly through St Paul’s church and in a moment I remember and the tears slowly run down my cheeks.  Afterwards, we head uptown and eat at The Shake Shake gossiping and comparing the days shopping booty. I pause and think about the words of Warren Zevon, “Enjoy Every Sandwich” — his advice upon finding out that he had terminal cancer. I dug into my burger, smiled at my girls, and did just that.

Cellphone feels like a part of your body? A global survey has found that most people can’t live without their mobiles, never leave home without them and, if given a choice, would rather lose their wallet. Calling mobile phones the “remote control” for life, market research firm Synovate’s poll said cell phones are so ubiquitous that by last year more humans owned one than did not. (more…)