It would have been so much easier to find where in the world Carmen San Diego was with this app.

If you’ve never heard of the iPhone app Find My Friends, you clearly haven’t maximized your stalking capabilities. The app lets you track where your friends (or at least their iPhones) are at any given time, if they agree to share their location with you. There a few times when this can come in really handy, but most of the time, it’s just plain creepy. Use the following rankings to see how creepy your use of Find My Friends is, on a scale from Actually Useful to Your Friend Should Get a Restraining Order.

Seeing if your friend is in the Ratty so you’ll have someone to sit with — A little creepy. We all know how awkward it is to wander around the Ratty balancing your loaded tray, hoping you’ll see someone you know so you won’t have to sit alone at one of those awkwardly big tables. Using Find My Friends is a practical way to see if you’ll have friends to sit with, or if you should go eat Chobanis by yourself in your dorm room. But you could also just text your friends to see if they want to grab lunch…

Discovering that two of your friends are secretly hooking up — Stalkward. If you happen to open Find My Friends and see two of your friends right next to each other in one of their dorm rooms all night, it’s pretty clear that something’s going down. This is when stalking gets awkward. Secret lovers, remember to hide your location on “Find My Friends” when sneaking off to one another’s rooms. Actually, this is probably a good thing to do in general if you have stalking-inclined friends (and who doesn’t?).

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New Year’s Resolution 2013: I was not going to be alone on Valentine’s Day. This year, I would open my heart, find love, and live happily ever after. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. A real relationship requires honesty, integrity, and never, ever forgetting to shave your legs. But I knew could do it. And I had discovered just the place to find love: Tinder.

If you haven’t experienced the glory of Tinder, let me spell it out for you. Tinder is an iPhone app that links into your Facebook, takes your profile picture and age, and then creates a profile, which can be viewed by other Tinder users located near you. Those Tinder users can then vote “yes” or “no” to your picture. If a person says yes to your picture, and you say yes to their picture, then Tinder allows you two to talk. It seemed the best way to really get to know my future mate.

Step 1: View Profile. Step 2: Yes or No? Step 3: Match

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Three. More. Days.

Follow @techaccino for semi-instant updates, and advice on whether to buy a “new” iPad.

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s over 70 degrees outside, which means most college students are either already on Spring Break or have mentally checked out in preparation for break (or both?). The point is, when the time comes to pack for your week off, you should make sure you have as few things on your plate as possible because (1) your flight/train/car ride will likely be very early in the morning and (2) you will likely be hungover from partying the night before. So, before you forget, just scroll down to your Spring Break destination below and follow the instructions to download the most important app you will need for your trip.

Florida
Mixology: iTunes / Android / Bartender Pro: Blackberry

Aaah, the sandy, fratty beaches, and the loud, pumping house music. If only there were something other than Natty Light to drink around here… Enter Mixology! It’s the best, cheapest, most complete drink recipe app out there; with the ‘Liquor Cabinet’ option, you can enter the liquor and mixer types you have, and it spits out all the possible cocktails you can make.

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Yes, dear reader: this new column is for you. Whether you are iPhone-slinging, MacBook-toting, Android-rocking, or BBM-rolling, Techaccino is your weekly morning dose of new and upcoming gadgets, apps and websites to turn your fingers into multimedia WMDs. Follow @techaccinoblog on Twitter for instant updates!

When last semester’s Herald poll came out, it came as no surprise that nearly two thirds of Brown students own either an iPhone, Android or Blackberry device. Touchscreen phones nowadays are as ubiquitous as boomboxes in the ’80s, CD Walkmans in the ’90s, or iPods in the ’00s: everyone either already has one or wants one.

What’s slightly more surprising, though, is the proportion of each of these brands on campus — out of those two thirds with smartphones, over half have iPhones, while Android and Blackberry users are split even. In the US, according to data from comScore, almost half of smartphone users have Android devices, while iPhone users have about 30 percent of the market, and Blackberry 16 percent.

So, what’s the deal here? Are iPhones simply better for life on campus? Are Android users ahead of the curve? Are Blackberrys on their way out? In honor of awards season, let’s meet the nominees in the our first ever BEST PHONE FOR COLLEGE HILL competition. [Read more →]

We’ve all been there before: you’re just about done with your plate of sushi at Sakura, you’re four drinks deep, and the angry waitstaff is hovering like one of those crazy mothers from Toddlers & Tiaras. Just as you’re about to crack open an ice-cold brewskie to partake in the ancient Japanese art of sake bombing, the waitress is back, yelling in an incoherent dialect with the bill in hand.

Bummer.

Now, if you’re a pro, you know to casually avoid even looking at the thing, for fear of being stuck having to figure out how to split the check 14 different ways. Lucky for you, things just got a little easier, thanks to those five magical words: “There’s an app for that.” [Read more →]

Are you a recent iPhone covert? Has Siri seduced you into joining the dark side? Are you concerned that your lackluster case doesn’t adequately display your bitchin’ new accessory? Fear no more, BlogDH’s got your back.

Despite being annoyingly hackneyed, there’s no denying that retro is the not so  new cool. Use the word vintage to describe a recent purchase of yours and heads are sure to turn.

OMG, I LOVE THAT LLAMA PONCHO! Where’d you get it?
     It’s vintage…

Now, throw the word “ironic” into the mix and you’re a style god. No one can touch you. It’s here, at the intersection of ironically awesome and brilliantly old school that the casette tape iPhone case comes in. Not only is it an homage to a simpler time, but it’s sure to start a conversation or two, simultaneously perplexing and astounding onlookers until they have no choice but to compliment you on your bangin’ new purchase.  An iPhone case that shields dear Siri from the elements while also securing you new friends in the process? Take a swig of tiger blood, because that’s what we call #winning.

Too lazy for confession? Don’t have time to waddle through the melting snow to pour your heart to a priest through an iron gate? Just too ashamed to do even that? Well, Steve Jobs is here to make your life just a bit easier.

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According to a CNN article, Apple has recently patented a new technology that could helps parents block their kids from ‘sexting’ on their iPhones. This would be like a modern day AOL Kidz (anyone else remember that?), where parents could block their child’s phone from receiving or sending texts with certain words. According to the article, even abbreviations of certain words would be blocked, and the program could be tailored to a child’s age. It’s kind of crazy that a) there are enough “children” with iPhones for this to be a seriously needed tool, and that b) there are enough children with iPhones for whom ‘sexting’ is a problem. Kids these days…